Phantoms and Assassins
by thisissparta789789
Summary: Ever wondered how the White Fang stopped being a peaceful protest organization and became the violent terrorist group it is now? Ever wondered what got into the head of Adam Taurus, and how he got the nickname "The Rampaging Bull?" This story will reveal all. (RATED M FOR VIOLENCE, LANGUAGE, DRUG REFERENCES, AND NON-EXPLICIT SEXUAL REFERENCES.) (STB Universe, Prequel)
1. PROLOGUE

_**September 20, 2007**_

"Down with this sort of thing!"

A boy, aged 12 and sporting dark red hair and bull horns, held a sign alongside a young girl, who had just turned 10 and was sporting long black hair, cat ears and a tail, outside a movie theatre. The boy's sign aptly said what he had just called out.

"Careful now," the young girl said in a quieter voice. Her sign also said the same thing.

Then, the young boy repeated, "Down with this sort of thing!"

A man then walked up to them. He, possessing the ears and tail of a wolf, said, "Hey there, Little Taurus." He had known the boy's parents personally.

The boy smiled, jumped up excitedly, and said, "Billy!" He then handed his sign to his partner and ran up to the man, hugging him and saying, "I'm so glad to see you!"

The man, named William Rhodes, said as he looked at the duo's signs, "I see you 2 are out here protesting. What's going on?"

The young girl said, "We're protesting that movie that just came out." She turned around to look at the movie titles outside, her young mind having forgotten what she was protesting. "Uhhh... I think it's... I don't think I should say that. It has a bad word, Ad."

The young boy, named Adam, said, "She's talking about Hellraisers, that sick movie about Vacuouan soldiers during the Faunus War. It portrays them as normal people caught up in war, when in reality, Vacuouan soldiers did horrible things to us as a race."

William replied, "Well, you 2 have fun with that. Is there anyone out here watching you?" Bill personally disagreed with Adam's viewpoint, having been a Valeanian veteran of the Faunus War on the Vale-Vacuo front and meeting Vacuouan POWs, but decided not to disagree publicly.

"If we need help, we can call my mentor Simon." Adam showed Bill a picture of Simon Urdin, a young but well-respected civil rights activist, on his Scroll phone. "He's mentored me since I was 8." He then pointed at the girl. "I've been mentoring Blake there for half a year."

"Hello," the young Blake said as she smiled and waved at Bill. "I'm Blake Belladonna."

"Why hello there," Bill said as he walked up and shook Blake's hand. "You seem like an active little girl."

"You bet I am," Blake energetically said. "I'm the most energetic White Fang member out there!"

Bill laughed and said, "Well, I gotta run, you 2. Have fun!" He then waved goodbye.

Adam replied, "Bye, Billy!"

* * *

Later that night, a meeting was convened in a darkened room in an apartment. 3 men and 2 women had sat down at a table in the darkened apartment, surrounded by cigarette and cigar smoke.

"Now that we are all here," one man, presumably the leader, said, "Let's begin this meeting of the Phantoms of Liberation. As we all know, nothing we say here is to ever reach the White Fang."

"Allow me to speak first," a woman said. "Simon, when will you get your mentor and his little companion to join us?"

"Don't worry, the leader said. "Adam and Blake will be roped in. They're too young to help us in battle right now. I will indoctrinate them with our message, and soon, they will be key in our new revolution." He then grabbed a cigarette out of a carton and lit it with a nearby lighter. Once he was done puffing out the smoke, he said, "Anyone else?"

Suddenly, one of the men stood up and pulled a gun from his waistband, aiming at the leader's head.

"I knew you were a fucking traitor," the leader said.

"I knew you were up to something," the traitor replied. "The White Fang will easily hand you over to the police when they hear about this, but not before I blow your brains out, you son of a bitch."

Then, everyone else aimed their guns at the traitor, including the leader, Simon. He cocked his gun and said, "Oh, I'm sorry, but we don't give a fuck."

Shots then rang out as 4 of the 5 fired their guns at the traitor, riddling his body with lead.

Once they were done, his body laid on the floor, bleeding profusely from at least 15 gunshots all across the body.

Simon then put his gun back into his waistband holster and snapped his fingers, saying, "C'mon, we can't just leave this guy's body and blood all over. We gotta dispose of him." As the other 3 picked up his body, he thought to himself, _"Just wait. The days of inaction through peace and equality will be over soon! After that, the era of the Faunus will begin! All I need to do is train Adam to my ways, and I'll be all set. Maybe he can pass them on to his student too. It would be perfect!"_


	2. Episode I

_**September 20, 2010**_

"...Happy birthday to you," a small crowd of people sang to Blake on her 13th birthday as they finished the aptly-named song.

Blake reached forward as she sat at a table and blew out the candles on her cake. As the rest of the crowd clapped, she said, "Thank you, all of you."

After the party ended, Blake and Adam went upstairs and played video games for most of the night. Like many nights before, Adam was sleeping over at Blake's house. Her parents always enjoyed his company.

Adam said, "No way! You killed me again!"

Blake laughed and said, "Haha! I'm awesome at this game."

Adam, who had turned 15 2 months before, laughed it off and replied, "Ah, it doesn't matter. I'll kick your ass in the next round, Blake."

"We'll see about that, Adam." Blake felt very confident, having beaten Adam 3 times in a row.

In Adam's head, however, he wasn't thinking about the game.

* * *

Adam slept in a spare bedroom in Blake's house, as always. However, this night, he felt restless.

 _"Adam, no!"_

 _"Somebody, help me!"_

 _"AAAAAAAAAAAGH!"_

Adam suddenly woke up from his vivid nightmare, drenched in sweat and yelling, "Blake!"

As he breathed heavily and looked around, he saw that his vision was only a dream, and he laid back down in his bed. He rubbed his eyes and looked up at the ceiling, pondering to himself.

As he rolled over on his pillow after several moments of pondering, he said to himself, "Why do I keep having that dream?"

Then, he heard his door open, and a voice say, "Adam?"

Adam quickly looked at the door, startled, and asked, "Who is that?!"

As his vision cleared up, he saw that the visitor was Blake. She said as she walked over to his bed, "I heard you yelling in here. What's going on?"

Adam was quiet for a few seconds, trying to think how he should answer his friend's question. As Blake sat down on the bed next to him, he said, "I had a bad dream. A very bad dream. I could barely sleep."

"Oh... What was it about?"

"I'm not so sure I want to tell you."

Blake then put her hand on his shoulder and said, "Tell me, please. You're my mentor, and we're, like, best friends, Adam. I can tell you anything, so why not the other way too?"

"Fine..." Adam then sat up in his bed. "It was about you."

Blake looked confused. "Me?"

"It was terrible... You were screaming for help, and yet I couldn't help you." Adam then sighed. "It hurt to see that. It hurt a lot."

The cat girl looked worried. "Adam, are... Are you that concerned for me?"

"Well, yeah... I kinda have to be since I'm your mentor."

"Stop worrying so much, Adam. I can take care of myself. I'm not weak at all." Blake then got off the bed and stood back up. "Get some rest. Goodnight."

Once Blake left the room, Adam slid back under the covers, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.

* * *

 _ **September 21, 2010**_

"Simon," Adam asked his own mentor as they sat down at a table at an outdoors restaurant. "Can I tell you about a dream I had last night?"

Simon, reading a book, looked up at Adam and said, "Oh. Oh yeah. Go ahead. What was it?"

Adam then put his pencil down, as he was doing homework from school. "It was about Blake. I had a dream where she was screaming for help, yet I couldn't help her."

Simon looked curious at Adam's description. "Really? You know, they say that dreams can be prophetic."

"I don't want that happening to her!" Adam suddenly got tense. "Blake is my student and my best friend! I'll be damned if I let anyone hurt her."

"Adam..."

"Yes, Simon?"

Simon then thought to himself, _"Perfect... This is my chance..."_ "Do you know how to defend yourself in a fight?"

"Uhhh... Kind of? I know kicks and punches."

"Okay then," the winged man followed. "How about aura and semblance?"

"I thought that's just huntsmen and huntresses," Adam replied. "You unlocked your semblance?"

"You don't need to be in the Hunting Corps to unlock your's," Simon replied. "All you need is willpower. Now, do you want to protect Blake at all cost?"

"Yes, more than anything in the world!"

"Then I will train you to unlock your semblance, forge a weapon, and fight effectively in battle." Simon then grew cautious. "Do not tell anyone about this unless I say so first. I don't want the rest of the White Fang snooping in on this."

Adam nodded, "Yes, Simon."

"Say," he replied in a joking manner. "Do you like Blake?"

"Blake is my best friend, of course."

"No, I mean as more than a friend, Adam." Simon laughed.

Adam blushed and got defensive, saying, "Woah, woah, woah! She is JUST my best friend! The girl just turned 13 yesterday, and I turned 15 2 months ago! It would be weird if I tried asking her out like that." He then paused. "I mean, if she was a bit older, maybe I would..."

"Awww, c'mon. Me and my wife started dating on and off when I was 15 and she had just turned 13. Sure, we hit a few rough spots, but we eventually got back together and stayed together when I was 19 and she was 16." He then sighed. "Of course, we never ended up having a family since she died 2 years ago while pregnant with our child."

"I know, but..." Adam calmed down. "It's... Different?"

"Nah, it ain't different. You're just in denial." Simon then thought to himself, _"Perfect! Now that Adam's fully under my wing, I can start canvassing Blake too."_

* * *

 ** _September 25, 2010_**

Adam, Blake, and Simon drove out of the city on one of the major highways leading out before pulling over in Forever Fall. Simon said as they all got out of the car, "We'll be here for a bit. Don't worry, we're not far from the city wall, so we'll be relatively safe."

Blake went to the trunk of the car to grab Simon's supplies, which included his 4 guns and some ammunition. Adam went to join her. He said, "Blake, you need help?"

"Yep," she replied. "Take this hunting rifle and this can of ammo."

Once Adam grabbed both items, he walked off with Simon. "So, where are you taking us?"

"We're gonna practice shooting skills and hand-to-hand combat in the forest," Simon replied.

Blake said, "Hopefully none of us get hurt."

"Don't worry," Adam replied. "Simon knows what he's doing." As he said that, he couldn't help but feel uneasy around Blake ever since his conversation with Simon. He thought to himself, _"What if Simon's right? I mean, I guess I've been looking at her more..."_ He then shook his head. _"Adam, you idiot! She's younger than you by 2 years! What are you doing looking at a girl like that?! But... When we started, I only felt friendship with her, but now, I feel something else... What am I going to do?"_

After several minutes of hiking, they got to a clearing in the forest. Simon said, "Okay, here we are, guys!"

Blake and Adam laid out their supplies on the grass in the clearing. Blake said, "Ready to see who can fight and shoot better, Ad?"

"You're on," Adam replied. "Just remember, don't get hurt."

"Of course." The 2 then high-fived each other in confidence. "Neither of us are that stupid."


	3. Episode II

_**September 29, 2010**_

At a local White Fang meeting in the evening, a man who appeared to have no outside faunus features was speaking from a podium. He had dark hair and sideburns, and he was a passionate speaker. "We cannot let this bill pass in Parliament! It will only serve to make this behaviour more acceptable," he shouted, eliciting a cheerful response from the crowd. "We cannot let openly homosexual persons adopt children! They will damage their mental health, and openly homosexual faunus will lead to our race's extinction!"

The White Fang, surprisingly, had taken an anti-homsexuality approach several months ago after staying silent on the issue for years, saying that the promotion of homosexuality would kill off the faunus race. This earned it both support and condemnation from various groups, and there were discussions in other faunus rights groups of severing ties with the White Fang over this.

"I, Tukson Ryder, will not stand for the government's continued promotion of homosexuality," the man said. "I hope you will join me!" The crowd once again cheered. "After the genocide at the hands of Vacuo, we need more faunus! Homosexual propaganda stands in the way of keeping our numbers up!"

Blake and Adam stood in the crowd, watching. Adam smiled at Tukson and clapped, whereas Blake stood still, neutral on the issue. Adam said, "Are you alright, Blake?"

"Yeah," Blake said, snapping out of her trance. "I'm good."

Adam then paused for a second. He began to get anxious. _"Should I ask her, or should I not?"_

Blake looked at Adam, now tense and blushing, and asked, "Are _you_ okay, Adam?"

"Uhhh, yeah. I'm fine..." Adam then sighed. "Do... Do you want to go out on..."

"Go out and do what?" Blake was confused as to why Adam was acting this way. He was never nervous when asking Blake to do anything else before.

"A... A date? On Friday?" Adam braced himself for rejection.

"Sure!" Blake quickly answered. "I'd love to!"

Adam thought to himself, _"No way... No fucking way... She said YES?!"_ "Oh, okay then! I'll call you then and we'll set it up from there." _"YEEEEESSSS!"_

* * *

Blake sat in her room later that night, writing in her journal.

 _"Dear Journal,_

 _Today, Adam was... Off, to say the least. He was very nervous when he asked about going out and doing something on Friday. I've never seen him like this before. Normally, we can talk about practically anything together. Hell, I even told Adam when I first got my period in January right after I told my parents. Sure, it was a bit awkward, but it was nothing like the conversation at the White Fang meeting. Adam didn't get flustered or nervous, only a bit grossed out. But, that's to be expected of boys. I'd be a bit grossed out too if Adam told me about his 'situation' down there, but I'd march through it._

 _Anyways, my history teacher today showed us a film on the concentration camps Vacuo built in Menagerie. I have watched the film before with my parents. It was so weird seeing several human kids in the class start crying over it. I mean, it didn't affect you. Hell, your species started it. What gives you the right to cry over something that happened to us that you caused? At least, that's what Simon has been teaching me and Adam now._

 _Speaking of Simon, he's been teaching us some awesome moves in the forest. He taught us how to use guns, and soon he'll teach us how to unlock our auras. I really want a cool semblance like teleportation or making clones or something. I would kick ass in a battle with a semblance like that."_

She then stopped writing when her mom yelled upstairs, "Blake, you gotta take a shower!"

"Okay, mom!" Blake then ran to the bathroom to get undressed and take her shower.

* * *

Meanwhile, Simon and his cronies met at his apartment again. This time, they numbered 4 including him. "We are already beginning to exert influence, my comrades," He began. "Ever since we have shown the White Fang the right way to go in regards to the homosexuals a month ago, we will continue to build our influence leading up to the coup."

Another man then spoke, saying, "Good job, Simon. Say, how's training going with Adam and Blake?"

"Pretty well," the mentor replied. "They're really good at using guns, and soon, I'll be able to unlock their auras. Once I do that, we will be unstoppable. I sense great untapped power in both of them." He then put a cigarette in his mouth and puffed it the smoke dissipating throughout the room. Once he finished, he continued by saying, "Blake in particular has the most potential."

The only woman in the group said, "Now, about that useful idiot Tukson... What do we do with him once we take over the White Fang?"

"We'll let him stay as a useful idiot. He sure knows how to keep a crowd hyped." Simon then laughed. "If he tries to leave, he dies. It's that simple." The rest of the group nodded in response. "Now, I have some plans for attacks on humanity once we convert the White Fang to our cause..."

* * *

 _ **October 1, 2010**_

Adam and Blake sat outside at a restaurant in downtown Vale in the evening. Both of their parents were proud of them having their first official and formal date. In fact, they had even joked together about them becoming married once they became older back when Adam and Blake were younger.

Blake was laughing at a funny story Adam had told her. "Oh my God, Adam, my sides..."

"I told you, Blake. It was pretty funny." Adam had managed to keep any anxiety about the date low. "Now, uh, how was your day?"

Then, a waiter brought their food. He said, "Here you go. Here is your meal, young man." The waiter handed Adam his meal. "And here is your meal, young lady." The waiter then handed Blake her meal. "You 2 enjoy."

"Thank you," Adam replied. He then turned to Blake, "I'll pay for this, by the way."

"Thanks," Blake said as she smiled. "You know, I'm starting to think this friendship is moving to a new level or something."

Adam then suddenly stopped what he was doing and looked at Blake. "Uhhh... To what level?"

"Well, I've noticed that you've been getting shaky around me now. Is there something wrong?"

Adam then paused. "Well... Umm... Blake, I have a question..."

"Go ahead. Shoot it."

"What would you consider too old for a... For... For a boyfriend?" Adam then braced himself for her answer.

Blake looked at him, blushing slightly. "Uhhh... Well... It depends on the person... I mean... If you're trying to tell me something, you need to be clearer..."

Adam became extremely nervous. _"Shit... I really dug a deep hole this time..."_ "Well... I've... I've been thinking, Blake... About... Us..."

Blake replied, "Us? Well... I'll admit, I've been having some thoughts myself... But... I don't know..."

"How about this," Adam said. "We'll move on from that conversation and give each other a few days to think this through. In the meantime, we will be just friends until a decision has been made."

"Huh," Blake replied. "That's actually a pretty good idea..."

* * *

Meanwhile, at another restaurant, a man and his family sat outside at a table, enjoying a meal. The man was talking to his wife, saying, "So, the rally will be tomorrow at 5. You got the signs ready?"

"Sure thing," the wife replied. "Hopefully, those animal counter-protesters won't be too much of a bother to us."

"You said it. If one of those faunus thugs comes up to me, I'll be sure to kick their a-... Er I mean, butt..." He caught himself after seeing his kids.

Suddenly, 2 men wearing bicycle helmets and armed with pistols, came out of an alleyway across the street and aimed their guns at the family. One of them shouted, "Die!"

The human man tried ducking underneath the table as the 2 gunmen opened fire. However, before he could, he was struck in the head by a .45 bullet, blowing the top of his head off and splattering his brains and blood all over his family. The gunmen then aimed at the wife and the 3 children, aged 14, 10, and 5, and proceeded to murder them as well in cold blood.

Then, both of the gunmen threw 2 grenades into the restaurant, shouting, "Racism will not be tolerated!" They then ran back into the alleyway to get on a motorbike and speed away as the grenades exploded, killing and maiming many inside the restaurant.

One waitress stumbled outside, her herself a dog faunus. She was carrying her intestines, which had begun to fall out due to shrapnel damage, and screamed, "HELP ME! OH MY GOD, HELP ME!" She then collapsed to the ground as police officers and several volunteer firefighters arrived on scene.


	4. Episode III

_**October 5, 2010**_

Blake had just gotten home from school when she received a text from Adam on her phone. It read, "Call me."

The young girl looked at the text and said to herself, "I wonder what's up." She then dialed Adam's number on her phone and patiently waited for him to respond.

Adam answered, saying, "Hi, Blake."

"Hey Adam," she replied. "What do you need to talk about?"

"I did some thinking," Adam said before sighing. "I'm willing to take our bond beyond friendship and mentorship, Blake."

Blake blushed, thinking to herself, _"This is really happening? No way..."_ She then said, "Same... Here..."

"Look, Blake, when we first met, I truly did think of you only as a friend and a student I had to mentor. But, you know, as 2 people grow up, feelings can change about someone else." He then paused. "What I'm trying to say is, I want us to be a thing."

Blake smiled. "Yes, yes, Adam. I've begun to feel the same way. There are nights where I see you in my dreams. I know that sounds cheesy and corny and whatnot, but it happens. And I do know what you mean about growing up. Seriously, my whole life has changed in the span of just a year."

* * *

 _ **October 8, 2010**_

"So," Adam said as he examined some Grimm masks Simon had bought for him and Blake. "These are the masks?"

"You got it," he replied. He then put his mask on. "I'm gonna bring these up at the next big meeting. Imagine how much publicity we'll get when we protest with these things." He then turned to Blake. "So, how do I look?"

"Scary," Blake replied sarcastically. She did not really care for the masks, unlike her now-boyfriend and her mentor. "I'm not into these masks that much."

"I am," Adam replied as he put his on. "Rawr," he said as he playfully bared his hands as if they were claws at Blake.

The young girl laughed and said, "Adam, take off the mask. You're not a monster."

"I am the knight of the dark! The saviour of the faunus race! The ruler of all things heroic!" Adam then laughed again. "This is pretty fun."

"You're not some cheesy superhero either, dude." She then put her mask on. "So, how do I look with mine on?"

Adam looked at Blake and said, "Not bad. I wish you liked these masks more, because I think you'd look awesome in them." He then turned to Simon. "Say, can I paint some stuff on mine? These masks look boring when they're just plain white."

The older mentor shrugged and said, "I don't really care. They're yours to keep, guys."

* * *

 _ **November 20, 2010**_

"We're getting pretty good at this," Adam said to an exhausted Blake. "I still can't believe you can summon copies of yourself!"

"Me neither," the tired-out girl replied as she sat down on the ground. "I never knew how powerful... A semblance could be... Until today." She then wiped her forehead off.

"I wonder what my semblance will be when this is all over," Adam said to Blake. "Say, you need some water?"

"That would be nice."

Adam then walked over to Simon's car and opened the back right door to grab a bottle of water. When he came back, Blake reached out for the water and grabbed it from his hands quickly. As she downed over 2/3 of the bottle, Adam said, "Looks like you were pretty thirsty."

"Yeah," Blake said as she took a deep breath before finishing the bottle. She then got up and said, "So, you got any plans for later?"

"Not really. Wanna come over my house?"

"Sure thing." Blake then went up and gave Adam a quick kiss. "I'll see you tonight then."

* * *

 _ **November 21, 2010**_

A high-ranking member of the White Fang, Aaron Lowe was very suspicious of Simon, especially in regards to his training of Adam and Blake. Therefore, he decided calling a personal meeting with him and Simon was the best way to address any concerns he had.

Unfortunately, Simon had other plans involving sending somebody else over instead.

Aaron sat in his house, patiently waiting for Simon to show up. As he checked the time in his kitchen, he heard the doorbell ring. He got up and walked out of the kitchen and to his front door, expecting to see Simon. He thought to himself, _"Hopefully, we can reach an agreement. I don't want to cause a power struggle in the White Fang."_

When he opened the door, he said, "Hello, Simo-" He then saw a man in a mask point a gun at his head. As he cocked it, Aaron froze.

Then, 2 loud gunshots echoed through the house and the outside. A masked gunman pushed his way into the front room of Aaron's house as he fell to the ground with 2 bullets in his head.

The gunman looked up at the stairs and saw Aaron's teenage son and his wife rush downstairs. His wife screamed and his son charged at the gunman, angered at his father's slaying.

The gunman coldly shot him. As his body fell to the ground, he shot Aaron's wife too as she tried to flee upstairs, her body tumbling and falling to the floor. The gunman then pushed her body aside as he went upstairs.

A neighbour had ran outside, carrying his own hunting rifle and calling 911. He watched on as he told the dispatcher about the gunshots. Then, he heard several more gunshots echo from upstairs. The neighbour said to the dispatcher, "Holy fuck, I think he just shot more people! This is getting fucking insane!"

Then, after a while, the gunman fled out the front door and back onto his motorbike. The neighbour put his phone down and aimed at the gunmen, firing 2 shots, one of which hit the bike, causing him to spin out and crash onto the road. The gunman got up, badly hurt, as 2 police cars approached him.

4 police officers stepped out, aiming their guns at the gunman. One of them yelled, "DROP YOUR WEAPON, NOW!"

The gunman dropped his pistol and reached for his left side, quickly pressing something on it. The police fired off only 1 shot before an explosion suddenly ripped through the area, engulfing the 2 police cars as more police officers showed up.

The neighbour shook his head and said, "A fucking suicide bomber? Oh my God..."


	5. Episode IV

_**November 27, 2010**_

A harsh voice yelled in a crowded bank, "EVERYONE ON THE FUCKING FLOOR NOW!" The voice was followed by the sound of 4 gunshots up in the ceiling as the over 40 people in the relatively non-upscale bank hurriedly fell to the floor, fearing for their lives.

3 men in masks entered the bank carrying assault rifles. The leader of the gang, who appeared to be at least 6'2" and had a red mask with devilish facial features such as bloodied teeth on it, also carried a bag with him, presumably to cart away any money the 3 would take from the bank. He said to the other 2, "Guard the customers and execute the guards."

Immediately, one of 3 guards in the bank tried to get up and run for the exit. As she got to his feet and began to bolt to it, one of the robbers coldly aimed his gun at her and fired a single bullet in her direction. As the sound of the gunshot echoed through the bank, the guard fell to the floor, dead from a bullet to her throat. The other gunman then walked over to the second guard, who was shaking in fear, and grabbed him by the back of his shirt to pull him up off the floor.

He immediately then dropped his rifle and grabbed a knife from his back pocket as the other gunman that had shot the fleeing guard began to do the same to the 3rd guard. Robber 2 then nodded to Robber 3 before they both counted down, "3, 2, 1."

They both then began to saw away at each guard's neck, not stopping as blood poured onto their clothes and onto the floor below. Finally, after about half a minute, they were done, and they dropped both their heads and their bodies to the floor, causing several customers to begin crying in fear until Robber 3 yelled, "SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Meanwhile, the head robber had already taken over 50,000 Lien with the help of a bank teller he took hostage. As he walked out with both the money and the teller, he said to the other 2 robbers, "Good job. Now, let's get out of here." He then fired 3 shots into the teller, killing her instantly. As she fell to the floor, the head robber ran out of the bank alongside the other 2 robbers.

* * *

Several hours later, Simon met once again with several of his accomplices as they discussed the robbery. "Good work today," he began to the gang of 5 that showed up. "We netted 52,234 Lien and 27 cents. We also killed 4 and struck fear into the hearts of humanity once more."

"That's good and all," said a voice at the table. "But I fear these attacks are too high-profile and could get us caught if we do too many at one time."

"True, true." He then lit a cigarette before puffing smoke into the air. "However, once we get control of the White Fang, we'll have all the manpower we need, and the humans will be unable to keep track of who is doing this as a result. No longer will we have to rely on just 10 or 15 people to repeatedly do these attacks when we will have hundreds if not thousands that are ready to die for us."

"Say," said yet another voice at the table. "When do we go into action?"

"On December 11," Simon confidently replied. "My student Adam will be of great help to me then."

* * *

 _ **December 10, 2010**_

Blake laughed after Adam had told her a story. "So that's how you met Simon, huh?"

"Yeah," he replied, smiling. "It's a bit embarrassing."

Blake then got up from her bed and said, "I'll be right back. I gotta go to the bathroom."

Adam nodded and said, "Alright." Then, as Blake left, his phone began to ring. He quickly grabbed it from his pocket and answered it, saying, "Hello?"

"Hi," said Simon. "I need you to do something with me tomorrow. Are you available?"

"Sure. What's up?" Adam did not think much of it at the time.

"I... I don't know how to tell you this." Simon faked being saddened and slightly angry. "But the leadership of the White Fang has sold out."

"What do you mean "sold out?"" Adam was now confused. "And why, if they actually did?"

"They are talking to the Schnee Dust Corporation, Adam. I don't know how to break this to you. They want to compromise on the SDC's use of cheap labour instead of fighting it." Simon silently prayed to himself that Adam bought his deception and that he would convince Blake of it too.

"No way," Adam said in shock. "Those little... What are you gonna do?"

"I'm gonna confront them," Simon told Adam sternly. "If they try to fight me, I'll use force, and I expect you and Blake to back me up."

"You have my back, Simon. I'll be at our HQ tomorrow waiting for you with Blake."

"Good," Simon replied. "I'll see you tomorrow." He then hung up and said to himself, "Perfect..."

As Blake walked back into her room, Adam told her, "Simon says that the leadership of the White Fang just sold out to the SDC."

Blake immediately went from smiling to frowning as she paused in shock. "No... Why..."

"I said the same thing," Adam told her. "Simon is going to confront our quote-unquote "leaders" at HQ tomorrow and wants us to back him up if things get violent."

"But things won't get violent," Blake said. "We aren't like that, right?"

"I know," Adam said. "But just in case, we may have to fight."

"Now I'm scared," Blake said to Adam as she walked over and hugged him for comfort. "What's gonna happen to us?"

Adam blushed and said, "Well... I know one thing. I won't let you get hurt, Blake. I swear on my life." He then guided Blake in for a long kiss, the first one the couple had ever had. Before this, they had only done quick pecks. It was not long before Adam began sticking his tongue into Blake's mouth, who complied and instinctively began doing the same.

Eventually, after what seemed like forever, the couple split. Blake said, "Adam... You..." She then placed her left hand on his right hand as she said, "I love you."

Adam smiled and replied back, "I love you, too." He then got up and said, "Now, let's prepare for tomorrow."


	6. Episode V

_**December 11, 2010**_

 _ **Operation Phantom begins.**_

Simon smiled to himself as he drove to the White Fang's offices. He could feel his heart pounding with anticipation as he rounded the corner to go down the street the offices were located on. _"This will be the day all of faunuskind has waited for,"_ he thought to himself. _"This will be the day we open the door to a new era where faunus are the supreme leaders of the land, and humanity, who has subjugated us and treated us like worthless animals, will be the ones subjugated now. Just wait, Remnant. A new White Fang shall arise from the shadows, and when we do, we will burn so bright you will be forced to acknowledge and fear us."_

When he arrived, he calmly walked through the front doors and to the reception desk, asking the teller, "Is David Soren here by any chance?"

"Why yes," the teller replied as she texted David Soren, the current leader of the White Fang. "I'm notifying him now, Simon."

"Thank you," Simon said as he walked to an elevator and pressed the up button. The White Fang was headquartered in offices on the 7th floor of an office building in the heart of the city of Vale. When the elevator doors opened, he stepped inside and calmly pressed the number 7 button. As the elevator began to move, he remained silent as he watched the floors go up with anticipation.

When he reached the 7th floor, he disembarked and walked down a long hallway to the office of David. "Time to meet your demise," Simon said to himself. "You race traitor."

When he opened the door, he found that there was actually a meeting involving the top 6 leaders of the organization. All 6 turned to Simon, surprised by his presence. David said, "Why hello, Simon. We were actually just talking about you."

"I see," Simon said as he closed the door behind him and took an empty seat. "What's going on?"

"We want you to tone down your rhetoric," David told him in response. "We fear that you are being too confrontational, and if anything, you could alienate humans and other faunus."

"I see," Simon told him in response. Then, he stood up and reached for a pistol hidden in his shirt. "Well this is my response."

Another person at the meeting yelled, "Oh fuck!" Suddenly, Simon fired at the 6 leaders, emptying the pistol and shattering the glass windows of the office. As 12 gunshots echoed through the headquarters, people in other rooms began to flee.

Meanwhile, Adam and Blake, who had arrived later, had just arrived at the 7th floor when the gunshots rang out. As soon as they exited the elevator, Adam immediately held Blake close to him as he drew a revolver he had been given by Simon. He said to her, "Just stay calm, Blake, stay calm!"

Blake shivered in fear as she replied, "I'll try. What's going on?!"

In the office room, Simon had killed all but David. As he shook in fear and looked at Simon, he said, "Why... Why did you do this?"

"Because equality doesn't cut it," Simon told him. "The faunus must become the supreme leader of all of this world, and to do so, humanity must be destroyed."

Then, Adam entered the room, asking, "Simon, what the hell happened?!"

Simon turned to him and lied to him in a panicked tone, saying, "It was awful! I was trying to talk to them, but they drew weapons on me, so I drew my own pistol."

David angrily replied, "Are you being serious?! Adam Taurus, I beg of you, stop Simon! He is lying to you!"

"Shut up," Simon yelled as he kicked David in his right side. "Adam, he is lying to save face. I'll let you finish him."

Adam paused, and then he went up to David. "Who do I believe?"

"Believe me," David said to him. "I've given everything to help faunus! Simon has done almost nothing but worsen race relations!"

"Who cares about race relations?! Equality won't cut it anymore! We need to be the ones in charge, not humanity! Adam, believe me!"

Adam then suddenly kicked David so hard that he tumbled and proceeded to fall out of the broken window of the office building, falling 7 floors to his death on the pavement below.

Simon looked at Adam, impressed by his choice. Adam then collapsed to his knees in shock, saying, "Oh my God... No... What have I done?!"

"Come with me," Simon said as he helped Adam up and they walked out of the room.

As they did, Blake asked the two, "What happened in there?!"

"I defeated our old leaders in a close-quarters battle," Simon replied. "As of today, I am the leader of the White Fang, and as of today, equality and peace are no longer our main goals, my young Blake."

Blake was puzzled. "So what are they now?'

"Vengeance and power," Simon told her. "Now, let's get out of here befor

e the police catch us." He then received a phone call. "Hello? Yes. Okay then. Good, just land it on the roof. We'll be there immediately. Bye."

Adam asked, "What was that?"

"Our escape helicopter," Simon replied. "A good friend of mine owns it."

* * *

At a secret hideout, far removed from the city, Simon debriefed Adam and Blake about the so-called "new" White Fang in a meeting room using a computer presentation. "So, to conclude, we must abandon all chance of gaining equality, and we must instead use force to gain power over humanity."

"Wow," said Blake in anger. "I can't believe our old leaders would sell us out and turn on our own race!"

"Me neither," said Adam, also angry. "Simon, I can guarantee you that me and my girlfriend will do everything we can to advance your cause."

"Excellent," Simon told them. "Now, stay here while I deliver a message to the rest of the White Fang." He then left the meeting room.

Blake stood up and walked over to Adam, hugging him in his seat and saying, "So, this is it, huh?"

"It is," Adam told her. "We have gone too far to go back, Blake. We must only go further."

* * *

"Alright," said a girl controlling a camera. "Simon, you are on the air in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."

"Good evening," Simon said to the camera. "My name is Simon Urdin, the new leader of the White Fang. Today, I confronted our old leaders about their selling out to the cruel masters of the Schnee Dust Corporation. When they refused to entertain my arguments and drew weapons on me, I fired back in self defense. Sadly, it is with a heavy heart to note that they were all killed in this confrontation." He then paused to shift papers. "Faunus of Remnant, equality cannot be achieved with the humans. They do not want us to be on equal terms, regardless of what we do, so instead, we must use force to subjugate humanity below us as they have subjugated us below them."

The camera girl gave a thumbs up on the status of the broadcast.

"As the leader of the White Fang, my first action will be to break off all relations with any human groups and any faunus groups that have friendly relations with humanity. How can we be friends with a race that has raped our women, encouraged homosexuality, killed our children, and turned their backs on us? The truth is, we cannot, and we can never be. My second action will be to declare war, and I mean an actual shooting war, upon all of the kingdoms and lesser nations on Remnant, plus the SDC. Yes, that includes the racial cuckolds that rule over Menagerie, our ancestral homeland and the place where humanity tried to wipe us out. Remember, it was not just Vacuo. The other hey ions of this world encouraged faunus to emigrate to Memagerie until it was convenient for them to break off relations with Vacuo and go to war to lime their own pockets with war profiteering. The so-called government there seems to enjoy masturbating themselves as humans have sex with our women and try to wipe out our race by breeding us to extinction."

Adam and Blake watched from another room, intrigued.

"I do apologize for being a bit sexually explicit there, but it's true. Race mixing will lead to our destruction. This is why my third action will be to condemn miscegenation and expel all members who have engaged in this sick and twisted practice. Race mixers will be another target of our war. You are not safe, and you will never be safe. While my words may seem harsh to you, you must realize that everything I am saying is true. Everything I am saying is the reality faunus face right now. You can ignore me and be part of the problem, or you can join me and the new White Fang and be part of the final solution. Thank you."


	7. Episode VI

_**December 12, 2010**_

"So," said Simon to 2 of his henchmen as they met in a small room in the hideout. "Are their parents' out of the picture?"

"They are," said the larger of the 2 henchmen. "I killed Adam's parents. My partner in crime, no pun intended, killed Blake's parents. I'll tell ya, it's a good thing neither had any brothers or sisters."

"Alright," replied Simon. "Did you leave fake evidence to pin it on the SDC?"

"We _even_ took pictures just in case Adam or Blake questioned it," said the smaller henchman as he showed Simon 7 pictures. 3 were of Adam's parents. 4 were of Blake's parents. "All you need to do is convince those kids the SDC did this and you can send them on their way to kill."

* * *

A shocked Blake began crying as she yelled, "WHAT?! NO!"

Adam's eyes began welling up with tears as well as he asked Simon, "Who... Who did this to our parents?"

"I'm... I'm sorry this happened," Simon told the 2 young teens. "But, I do know who did this, and I know how you can get back at them for murdering the people who took care of you."

Adam, still reeling in shock, stood up from the table the three had met and stared with empty eyes at the table. As he stood there, thoughts raced in his young mind about who could be responsible for the deaths of his parents. _"Was it the White Fang? Was it... Oh no... Was it other faunus? Who...? WHO DID THIS?!"_

Simon grabbed his phone and showed the couple a picture of a large house in Vale. "The people that live here did it," he said. "They are associated with the Schnee Dust Corporation. Let's go get them."

* * *

Later, at around 11 at night, a black van drove up to the same house Simon had shown to Blake and Adam. Blake, still sniffling, said to Adam, wearing his Grimm mask to help conceal his identity, as they got out, "Why did this happen? What did my mother and father do to deserve this?"

"They didn't," he replied. "And neither did mine. We are gonna make sure their deaths are avenged." He then turned to his own mentor. "Simon, are you ready?"

"Yep," he replied as he stepped out with an assault rifle. "You grabbed your weapons, right?"

"Yes," Adam said as he brandished a basic sword, which had been painted red, in one hand and a pistol in another. "Hey Blake, show Simon what you made with me a few days ago."

"This," Blake quietly said as she showed off a bare-bones sword she had made with Adam 4 days prior, as well as a more conventional pistol in the other hand. "I never got to show my parents this."

"They would be proud," Simon replied as the 3 of them walked up to the front door of the house, which was 3 stories tall and painted green and blue on the outside. When the three got there, they looked around in the dark before Simon used a custom made lock pick to unlock the door. "We're in."

Adam then opened the door before letting Simon lead the way. The house was completely dark, and the first floor was devoid of life. Adam said as he looked around, "Should we go upstairs?"

"Good idea," Simon replied as he pointed out the grand staircase of the home. It was wide and had ornate railings and furnishings, indicating that whoever owned the home was wealthy. "I'm surprised we haven't heard an alarm yet."

When they made it to the second floor, the three quietly and slowly advanced down a hallway that led to a series of rooms. All three were dead quiet as they traversed the length of the dark hallway. Then, Simon opened the ajar door of one of them, revealing that it was a bedroom.

Inside lay 2 people, presumably the husband and wife of the home, sleeping peacefully in a large bed. Simon smiled before motioning with his right hand for Adam to enter the room. Adam nodded and proceeded in, stopping at the foot of the right side of the bed.

He looked down upon the couple coldly, not caring whether they lived or died. According to Simon, these people had killed his parents and Blake's parents. He then drew his pistol and aimed it at the man in the bed. After hesitating for several seconds, he squeezed the trigger.

A loud bang and a splatter of blood followed. Adam quickly aimed her gun at the man's wife, who was just getting up when he fired a bullet into the side of her head, killing her instantly and splattering blood and brain matter on the bed and the floor. Once the 2 were shot, Adam quickly ran out of the room, breathing heavily at his first actual kills.

Simon patted him on the back, saying, "You did great, Adam. Don't fret or panic, okay?"

Adam then began to throw up, his loud heaves startling the children of the couple that were trying to flee behind them. Simon quickly aimed his rifle at the 4 children and fired a volley of 16 shots at them, striking all 4 and causing them to fall to the floordead.

When the family serving ran upstairs to see what was going on, Blake fired her pistol at him, striking him twice in the chest and killing him.

Adam looked at the vomit-stained floor below him before Simon grabbed him and Blake as he said, "We need to go before the police get here!"

* * *

 ** _January 10, 2011_**

Adam looked out upon an obstacle course set up in a safe house as he oversaw the training of several new White Fang members. As they jumped and ran through the various obstacles in their way, Blake said to him, "Simon says to make sure these 4 new recruits pass this test and get into service as soon as possible. He needs new blood to replace the 2 members that volunteered for suicide bombing."

"I see," Adam replied as he turned to Blake. "Tell him he will not be disappointed. Also, Godspeed for the martyrs that have chosen to give their lives to fight for us."

"Agreed," Blake replied. "And I will notify him of that other thing too." She then kissed Adam goodbye before heading off.

The young bull Faunus them thought to himself, _"You know, we probably should call it a different name than suicide bombing. It just feels so... Dirty, I guess... When I use that word. Martyr bombing is closer to what I imagine. Regardless, I hope those two guys that volunteered know what they're doing..."_


	8. Episode VII

_**June 10, 2015**_

"God damn it," an unmasked Adam yelled loudly as he smashed a mirror in his tent office, the crashing sound startling several people outside. As he looked at his now-bleeding right hand, he said to himself, "Blake, WHY?!" He then looked up at himself through the remains of the mirror still on the wall. "Ugh... First, I had to deal with that bitch, Cinder, and now THIS?! THIS?!"

Then, Simon, who had just heard of Blake's defection, walked into the tent. He said to Adam, "Hey, Adam, I heard about what happened."

"So you did," Adam said as he grabbed a bandage from an opened medical kit. As he wrapped it around the self-inflicted wound on his right hand, he sighed and said, "I can't believe she did this to me... To us..."

"I know," Simon replied as he patted Adam on the back. "She doesn't appreciate how much you have provided for her. You've almost died protecting her several times, right? Why must she hurt you, Adam?"

"Yeah," Adam replied as he nodded and wiped his eyes. He then put his mask back on. "Why would she turn her back on me? Why?"

"She doesn't care about you anymore," Simon replied. "It's that simple. She'd rather see you suffer. It's a sad fact, Adam."

Adam then paused. "I see... Simon, you always were a trustworthy mentor. I'm... I'm glad I could talk this out with you."

"You're welcome," Simon said. He then thought to himself, _"Excellent... Since I can't use Blake being WITH Adam to manipulate him, I can use Blake being WITHOUT Adam to manipulate him instead. All I need to do is to get him to blame her for everything and make him believe she hates him."_ He then walked out as Lieutenant Banesaw, a well-respected officer in the White Fang, walked in.

As Simon walked to the edge of the camp, he dialed a phone number on his cellphone and waited for it to pick up.

On the other end of the line, a female voice said, "Hello?"

"I talked to Adam," said Simon. "He's halfway convinced his runaway girlfriend hates him. He's starting to blame her for everything."

"Good," said the female voice. "We'll be over to the camp soon. The more Adam hates his ex, the better."

Simon then asked, "Promise you and your cronies won't harm me, right?"

"Of course," said the female voice. "Just go away from the camp and pretend you walked in on it and act like you are surprised and scared of me."

"It will be done," Simon said. "I'll see you in a few minutes, Cinder. Say, how did the attack go?"

"It was going juuuuust fine," Cinder said in an annoyed tone. "Up until some fucking asshole stopped me halfway. Yeah, I got exactly HALF of that Maiden's powers. HALF! I didn't even know you could actually interrupt the process!"

* * *

 _1 day earlier_

"Well," said a bummed-out Mercury. "That was a failure."

"You got that right," Cinder said, equally bummed. "Looks like we'll have to do this shit alone, guys." She then shrugged. "Not much else I can do."

"I don't mind," Emerald replied, trying to keep the gang of three upbeat. "The less people, the less confusion, I guess."

"True," Cinder said. "Now, let's go get that Fall Maiden."

Suddenly, a man rushed out towards them from the woods. He stopped the gang in their tracks as he said, "Pardon the interruption, ladies and one gentleman."

Cinder, surprised, asked, "Who the hell are you?"

Mercury said to Cinder, "Want me to take care of this guy?"

"Nah," Cinder replied. "Not yet."

"I'm actually the leader of the White Fang, thank you very much." He then extended his hand out to Cinder, who replied by shaking it. "I apologize for Adam's coldness to you three aspiring young people earlier."

"So you are," Cinder replied in a questioning tone. "Say, I do recognize you... So, why do you want to work with us humans when it was you who made the White Fang into a terrorist group that wanted humanity dead?"

"Because I see potential in all of you," Simon replied. "You three could easily overthrow all of the governments in Remnant. If you, Cinder, were indeed able to gain the power of the Fall Maiden, it would be even easier. Now, I know me and my group want to see humanity locked away or even dead, but I think we can work together, the 4 of us, to bring down human rule."

"I see," Cinder replied. "You got yourself a deal." The 2 then shook hands again.

"I got a plan," Simon said. "How about you go defeat the Fall Maiden, and then come back right afterwards and battle the White Fang members at the camp. Do not kill Adam or Blake, however. I'll pretend I walked in on it afterwards and act all scared shitless and stuff, okay?"

Mercury nodded his head and said, "I think it sounds good."

"Same here," Emerald said.

"Well then," Cinder replied to Simon. "If my 2 subordinates say yes, I'll say yes, too."

* * *

 _ **June 12, 2015**_

 _Diary Entry: 127 of Book 7_

 _I left Adam and the White Fang 2 days ago._

 _I first bought a diary book about 5 years ago, around the time I started dating Adam. Looking back at my old writings now about him, it hurts. I may very well never look at those 6 other books again. I won't throw them away or anything, but I won't open them up anymore._

 _Dear God, I love Adam. I really do. That's why I left him, though. I love him too much to let him keep going down this path. The White Fang has gone far beyond just fighting for faunus kind. What happened to the boy I fell for all those years ago? What happened to the man that I let into the deepest parts of mi mind and more? SIMON HAPPENED._

 _Even writing that fucking name down makes me want to throw up now. I just went along with it because I didn't want to get on Simon's bad side, but these past few weeks have gone too far. He's literally poisoning his mind with all of these violent thoughts that will only hurt faunus. He wants us to target other faunus civil rights leaders for not engaging in violent tactics._

 _Adam, please, I'm begging you. Leave the White Fang. I needed to break your heart so you could see what went wrong. I can only hope you actually did. I can only imagine that that asshole Simon is already telling you how much of a "whore" or "slut" I was and how I wanted to see you suffer by leaving you._

 _DON'T BELIEVE HIM, PLEASE_


	9. Episode VIII

_**October 18, 2015**_

"Ugh," said a tired Blake as she lay in a hospital bed at around 12 in the morning, staring at the clock on the wall of the dark room. "I can't fucking go to sleep." She then wiped her eyes with her right arm as she used her left arm to feel a stab injury she sustained earlier on her abdomen. "Yang... I wonder how surgery's going?"

* * *

 _3 hours earlier_

As Yang slowly opened her eyes, she saw that she was on the ground and that Blake was laying next to her, crying. She tiredly said, "Blake... What's up?"

Blake immediately gasped and said, "You're awake already?!"

As Yang looked around her in the dark night, she began to feel an intense pain in her right arm. She lifted what she thought was her right arm into her field of vision. "Huh? What? What the fuck happened to my arm?! Half of it's missing?!"

"No," Blake said as she showed Yang something that made her look on in shock. "I have it."

Yang used her left hand to reach out to grab the severed half-arm Blake held. "Who... Was it... Was it Adam?"

Blake nodded sorrowfully. "I grabbed it as soon as I left."

Yang then noticed Blake had been stabbed in the abdomen. "Holy shit, that had to hurt... Nevermind my arm, that can be reattached. That wound needs to get disinfected." Yang then began to get up, using her remaining left arm as leverage as the full extent of the pain hit her. "Agh shit... Agh fuck... My right arm hurts..."

Blake also began to get up as 2 volunteer firefighters from the Beacon Fire Company rushed over in their turnout gear. One of them, who was wearing a yellow helmet, thus indicating he was a lieutenant, said, "Follow me to the air ambulance now!"

Blake nodded as they were both helped along by the 2 firefighters. Yang said to her as the 4 of them walked, "You know where Ruby and Weiss went?"

"I think to go get Pyrrha or something," Blake tiredly replied before yawning.

* * *

"That's it," Blake suddenly said as she began to get out of bed. "I'm not sitting in this God damn hospital bed any longer." As she got to her feet, she scanned the room to find replacement clothes to get out of her hospital gown. After she found none, she said, "Hmm... What if I stole some from a nurse?"

Outside, a nurse walked by her room, carrying several papers with him down the lighted but still dark hallway. Then, Blake opened the door, startling the nurse. He said, "Who is that?"

"Just me," replied Blake as she stood in the doorway. "Uhhh... My bed stopped moving and its remote won't work, nurse. Can you come here and take a look?"

"Sure thing," said the nurse as he walked in. As he did, Blake closed the door behind them before suddenly punching him in the back of the head, knocking out the nurse cold as he hit the floor.

"Alright... Time to get changed and get the hell out of here... First up, I need to find Simon, and I think I know just where he is..."

* * *

In a safehouse in the city, Simon sat in a chair in an empty room as he looked out of a window, overseeing the damage done in the attack. However, despite the serious damage done, he was not happy. "I can't believe the Valeanian Army came in and ended up taking back Beacon... To make matters worse, that Pyrrha girl survived because Cinder decided she didn't have time to kill her..."

* * *

 _3 hours earlier_

As Cinder raised her arms up into the air to form a bow and arrow made of rubble, she stared down at a defeated Pyrrha, smiling at the thought of killing a well-trained huntress such as her. She thought to herself, " _Pyrrha, I must say, you put up a better fight than I imagined. Even without the Fall Maiden's powers, you certainly threw me off-guard a few times. For that, I deeply respect you as a worthy opponent. Because of that, I shall make sure you meet the mighty warriors that came and died before you..."_

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the landing of feet upon the tower the 2 stood upon. As Cinder looked over in surprise, a defiant Ruby yelled, "Leave her alone!"

Pyrrha looked at her in desperation as Cinder made her bow and arrow dissipate into the wind and said, "So you interrupt me..." She then laughed. "I commend you, both of you, for getting this far. It is almost a shame that this is where you will both die."

"No we won't," Ruby told her as she readied Crescent Rose. "It is not our destiny to die here."

"Really? It isn't?" Cinder then laughed again as she formed fire in her hands. "Do you realize how powerful I am even without the power of the Fall Maiden? What I'm doing now is something I have done ever since I unlocked my semblance!" Then, her eyes lit up, indicating her Fall Maiden powers had activated as she lifted slowly into the air. "It's a good thing the Fall Maiden grants you fire powers, 'cause that's right up my alley, little girl!" She then launched 2 jets of fire at Ruby from her hands.

Ruby quickly dodged them as she aimed Crescent Rose's gun at Cinder and fired 2 shots at her. Both shots bounced off of a shield Cinder quickly formed to deflect them. Pyrrha could only watch, having been almost immobilized.

Then, Cinder told Ruby, "Say, you wanna hear just how much I thought this whole thing through, Ruby Xiao Long Rose?! Well, let me start off by saying I know a guy who's made your little friend Blake's life a living hell!"

Ruby, confused in her anger, replied, "Was it that Adam guy?" She then fired 2 more shots at Cinder.

"Nope, it goes further!" She then lowered herself to the ground. "You see, the leader of the White Fang is a good associate of mine. He was Adam's mentor, and he's the one who made Adam and the White Fang into what it is today! I struck a deal with him that lets me use his cronies whenever I want."

"And how is that relevant to all this?" Ruby then readied Crescent Rose's scythe mode.

"Simon murdered Blake and Adam's parents and pinned it on Weiss's family's company to get them to do his bidding," Cinder told Ruby, leaving her and Pyrrha in shock. "He also was responsible for turning Adam into the creep he is today towards Blake! Let me tell you, he didn't come up with shit like, "Why must you hurt me, Blake" and, "I will destroy everything you love" by himself! Simon goaded him into it, and I helped him every step of the way!"

Ruby, shocked, shut down for several seconds. As she stared a Cinder in shock, she angrily thought to herself, _"So she's responsible for what happened to Blake and... She did this to Yang! She and that Simon creep did this to my sister!"_ She then closed her eyes and clasped her stomach in pain as she began to growl.

Cinder continued to goad her. "What's the matter, Ruby? Can't handle the fact that my minion Adam turned your sister into a cripple? Oh, I know about that. I know about it all. How about that robot Penny I helped destroy? Wasn't she your friend or something? Pfft, who cares?"

"Shut... Up," Ruby quietly said to Cinder, who looked at her and laughed in response.

Then, it happened.

Ruby flung her head back as 2 white lights flew out of her eyes and she gave a earsplitting yell of, _**"SHUT UP!"**_ She then began to levitate off the ground, her eyes now fully encased in white, as she angrily looked down upon Cinder, who was now, for possibly the first time in the attack, frightened.

Pyrrha looked up at Ruby, amazed. She said to herself, "What is this? What is this power?!"

Ruby then gave a loud yell again as she descended upon the Grimm Dragon that had watched the fight with content beside its master, her right hand curled into a fist and surrounded by a blinding ball of light.

Cinder yelled in shock, "What?! No! She's gonna kill the dragon!"

Then, Ruby's right handed fist met the Grimm Dragon's head with a loud explosion of light that blinded Cinder and Pyrrha temporarily. Ruby herself suddenly was knocked unconscious as the Grimm Dragon roared in searing pain. Then, Cinder and Pyrrha were both blown back by the blast. Pyrrha quickly grabbed a piece of rebar sticking out of the tower, just barely holding on as the wind blew her back intensely.

Cinder tried to do the same with another piece of rebar, but she slipped and tumbled off of the tower. As she fell rapidly towards the ground, Cinder tried to use her Fall Maiden powers to stop the fall. Eventually, just a few seconds from hitting the hard ground, she stopped herself rather abruptly in mid air with a sheet of flame. After levitating slowly to the ground, she brushed herself off and looked up at the tower. She said to herself, "Well, this puts a dent in my plans..."

Back on the tower, Ruby woke up on the roof, laying down on her side as Pyrrha knelt next to her. Pyrrha said to her in amazement, "Ruby... I don't know how, but you... You destroyed the Grimm Dragon!"

Ruby rubbed her eyes and looked around, saying, "Huh? I did?" As she noticed a conspicuous lack of the Grimm Dragon anywhere, she said, "I did!" She then hugged Pyrrha. "Oh my God, we won!"

Pyrrha returned the warm hug silently. After the pair split, she began to cry.

Ruby noticed this and asked her, "What's wrong?"

"I... I kissed Jaune because I thought I was going to die..." Pyrrha then buried her face into her hands. "I don't know how he'll react after he sees I'm alive... Ruby, listen to me, I love Jaune, I really do, but I don't want to ruin our friendship if he doesn't return my feelings..."

Ruby smiled and said confidently to Pyrrha, "I'm sure he returns your feelings, Pyrrha. I'm sure of it." Then, both of them suddenly heard many, many helicopter blades in the distance, indicating the arrival of the Valeanian Army. "I think the cavalry's coming, Pyrrha."

* * *

Back at the safehouse in the present, Simon said to himself, "I'll need to find Cinder and Adam to see what we can do next." He then thought to himself, "Say, I wonder what became of Blake?"

"She's right here, motherfucker."

Simon immediately swiveled around and saw Blake standing before her, Gambol Shroud unsheathed in its katana form. "So you are..." He then drew his own weapon, a sword used by his father that he had modified with red dust running through the center of the blade and at the tip. "Tell me, how was your little fight with my student?"

Blake angrily told him, "You poisoned him, you son of a bitch! You're the reason why he's like this today! You turned my boyfriend into a psychopath, just like you!"

"Wow," Simon said to her. "Nice to pin the blame on me and not him, Blake. Way to go. You sound just like a sufferer of Hostage Syndrome (A/N: Remnant equivalent of Stockholm Syndrome). Some abuse victim you are."

Blake, enraged at Simon's callous remarks, charged at him. Simon replied by blocking her, their swords clashing loudly several times. She told him, "Don't ever call me that again!"

Simon laughed as the two split before saying, "Say, wanna hear something before I straight up end your pathetic life?" He then grinned as he happily said, "I murdered you and Adam's parents. It wasn't the SDC. Also, the old White Fang leader never attacked me. In fact, I planned for the White Fang to become violent months, if not years, before 2010."

Blake paused in horror as Simon's lies came crashing down upon her, her mind almost shutting down from the shock of the revelations. Then, she fell to her knees and screamed loudly, "NOOO!"

Simon laughed again before saying, "How does it feel to know the awful truth, Blake?"

Blake silently stood back up, not replying at all to Simon, before charging at him with Gambol Shroud. This time, Simon let Blake impale him through his chest, the blade piercing his lungs and ribcage and spilling blood all over Blake's clothes and Simon's clothes.

Simon smiled and raised his right hand up to Blake as blood poured out of his mouth. Then, he slowly raised his right middle finger at Blake as one last act of defiance before the last ounce of life exited his body, and he fell limp.

Blake emotionlessly pulled Gambol Shroud's blade out of his chest, letting his body fall to the floor. As she looked upon it, she spit on the body and said, "You... You heartless bastard... You deserved every last bit of what I did to you..."


	10. Episode IX

_2 hours earlier, 1 hour after Cinder left_

Smoke rose from the smouldering remains of a crashed Atlesian command aircraft. The ensuing fire had managed to mostly burn itself out without human intervention since it had crashed one and a half hours ago.

Within the wreckage came the shape of a man as it stood upright weakly. Then, the sound of coughing was heard as it walked out of the thick smoke and into the clear air surrounding the crashed aircraft.

"Ugh," said a man wearing a tattered white coat with orange hair as he came into view. "Where the hell is my God damn hat and cane?" He then looked around and saw helicopters above. "Shit, Vale's Army's here..." He then began to feel intense pain on his right leg as he sat down. When he pulled back his right pant leg to see what was wrong, he saw a huge gash and burn marks from the crash. He also began to feel blood trickling down from his forehead.

Suddenly, another man in the distance yelled, "HANDS UP!"

Roman looked to the direction of the voice and saw 2 Valeanian soldiers closing in on him with their rifles drawn. Unlike their Atlesian counterparts, their gear was less futuristic and consisted of green camouflage. He said, "I'm unarmed!"

The other soldier yelled, "HANDS UP NOW!"

With an annoyed sigh, Roman put both of his hands up in the air as he stood up, ignoring the searing pain in his right leg. A soldier immediately ran up to him with plastic handcuffs and proceeded to cuff him from the back before noticing the wounds Roman had. The soldier called out, "Get me a medic for the suspect!"

* * *

 _Present_

"Well," said Blake to herself as she stood in front of an abandoned warehouse in the center of the city. "This is the place." She then sighed in worry. "Cinder, you will be exposed."

Meanwhile, inside the warehouse, Adam and Cinder talked on a walkway 30 feet above the ground floor. "This attack was a failure," Adam said to Cinder.

"Well," Cinder replied before thinking to herself. "Yeah, I guess." She then face palmed and sighed. "Hey Adam, wanna see me tempt fate?"

"We've already done so several times." Adam shrugged.

Cinder then jokingly said, "Could tonight get any worse? You see, I said that ironically, so I think I'm safe."

"I'm back," suddenly said Blake as she walked up to the walkway through the stairs. When she got to the top of the stairs, she took out Gambol Shroud and placed it on the ground before putting her hands up. "Adam, we need to talk."

Adam, startled to see Blake, told her, "Talk? We are beyond talking!"

"Adam, I need to tell you something about Simon."

Adam, immediately assuming Blake was about to lie to him, yelled, "Don't you dare besmirch Simon! He protected us and taught us!"

Blake loudly yelled, "BULLSHIT!" She then paused. "Adam, Simon tricked us both. You especially. Listen, you're gonna find me hard to believe, but Simon murdered our parents." Blake became immediately somber. "He set up everything, Adam."

Adam yelled back to her, "LIAR! SIMON WOULD NEVER LIE TO US!" He then grabbed his sword.

"Adam... Simon was a cruel, cold, and vicious person, and he poisoned you... He destroyed the boy I loved and replaced him with a monster..." Blake began to silently weep as tears fell from her face. "I gave you everything, Adam... I even slept with you... We could, and we should have been, a great couple, but... Simon led you down a path I couldn't follow... I left you not because I didn't love you, but because you needed to realize what he was doing to you..."

Cinder thought to herself, _"Blake really is blinded by love... How pathetic."_

"Adam, I'm telling you the truth and nothing but the truth when I say this..." Blake then began to break down. "I love you... I love you so much... I should have killed Simon sooner..." Shen then fell to her knees and cried.

Adam, confused and angry, told Blake, "Grab your weapon... It's too late for me to go back..."

Cinder said to the two of them, "Finally, an actual fight!"

As she reluctantly grabbed Gambol Shroud, Blake angrily told Cinder, "Stay out of this, bitch." She then turned to Adam, "And by the way, don't trust Cinder either. She'll gladly backstab you if it's in her best interests."

"That I know is a lie," Adam replied. "Cinder wouldn't dare." He then suddenly charged at Blake with Wilt and Blush.

As their swords clashed, Blake told him, "I said it before and I'll say it again, I. WON'T. LET. GO!"

Then, the two broke apart. Adam told her, "It is unwise to lower your defenses!" He then charged at Blake, a slash of Wilt and Blush barely missing her right shoulder. Cinder laughed in joy as the two continued to fight, their swords loudly clanging in the dark warehouse.

Suddenly, however, Adam made a mistake.

As he went to decapitate Blake, he realized too late that she had summoned a shadow clone to take her place using her semblance. Just as he turned his head around, Blake brought Gambol Shroud down onto his right arm.

The resulting slash chopped his right hand completely off, making him drop Wilt and Blush. As he collapsed to the ground in searing and excruciating pain, blood poured from his hand stump. He said, 'Blake! You..."

"Now, Adam, take your mask off... You're not a monster..." Blake stood before him, still holding Gambol Shroud as Adam complied with her request.

"Excellent," Cinder said as she walked over to the scene. "Now, Blake, I want you to strike him down! You've seen what he did to you and Yang, right? Don't you want raw animalistic revenge for the pain he has caused you and your friends?"

Blake paused for about half a minute, only looking at Adam and Cinder. Then, she dropped Gambol Shroud and said to Cinder, "No!"

Adam, shocked, said to himself, "What?"

"I will not kill him, Cinder. Look, I don't know if I'm a good person. I'm probably not a good person. I've done a lot of things that have been less than moral, especially in my White Fang days." She then spit on the ground. "But I know one thing. I'm better than that. I'm a lot better than that. Now that Simon's gone, Adam can and will be freed from his brainwashing. I don't need you trying to get me to give into my anger and raw emotion."

Cinder's smile quickly turned into an angry scowl as she said, "So be it... If you won't kill him, then you shall be destroyed!" Suddenly, her hands flared up with flames as she threw 2 fireballs at Blake, catching her clothes on fire. "Burn, you Hostage Syndrome-blinded fool!"

Blake tried rolling on the floor, but it did nothing as the flames began burning her skin. She screamed as she rolled, saying, "OH MY GOD! HELP ME! OH GOD, HELP!"

"You. Will. Die!" Cinder then summoned electricity from her hands to start shocking Blake. While this put the flames out, it left her in excruciating pain as electricity flowed through her body.

As blue bolts of electricity surged from Cinder's hands to Blake's body, she screamed, "ADAM! HELP ME! ADAM!"

Adam got up and looked at the scene, pondering what to do. Then, something came to him in his head. _"Wait... Blake... No..."_ Then, he looked at Cinder and yelled, "STOP!"

Without warning, Adam grabbed Cinder from the waist and lifted her up, redirecting the electricity to his body as Cinder screamed, "What are you doing?! PUT ME DOWN!"

Adam yelled at her, "Die, you dirty double-crossing bitch!" Then, when they reached the ledge of the walkway, Adam took one look down and threw Cinder off the edge.

Cinder screamed as she fell before her scream was interrupted by the sound of a body hitting and getting impaled on a large metal object below on the ground. Adam looked down and saw Cinder impaled on a piece of machinery. As blood poured from her mouth and the entry wound, she looked up at him in intense rage until her eyes closed for the final time, and her last labored breath escaped her body.

Cinder Fall was finally dead.

Adam fell to the floor of the walkway as Blake, her clothes in tatters due to her burns, ran over and picked him up. Once they made their way down the stairs to the ground floor, Blake, once again on the verge of tears, laid him down on the ground. She said, "Adam, I won't let you die!"

"I'm afraid my time is up," a badly hurt Adam told Blake. "I've repaid my debts by killing her."

"Don't say that!" By now, Blake was in denial about the probability of Adam dying. "I won't let you die on me! I can't let you die on me!" As she cried, Adam cupped her face and smiled. Then, without warning, he reached in to kiss Blake, who immediately returned the favor.

For what seemed like ages, the couple kissed. Eventually, they split, a strand of saliva still connected to both of their lips. Adam told her, "Best kiss of my life, love."

Blake replied, "There'll be more. GOD DAMN IT, THERE NEEDS TO BE MORE!" She began to weep as she said, "I need to save you, Adam... Damn it, I love you... I love you too much to not save you..."

"I love you, Blake. Besides, you already have saved me." He then signed as he got weaker. "You were right, Blake. You were right..." He then closed his eyes and smiled. After that, he slumped over and gave one last breath.

Adam Taurus had died, a smile on his face as he passed, knowing he had made amends by killing the most dangerous person in Remnant and mending his relationship with Blake.

Blake shook his body, telling him, "No... Wake up! Wake up, Adam!" As she continued to shake his body, she yelled, "Damn it, wake up! WAKE UP! PLEASE, I'M BEGGING YOU!" Then, she threw her head up into the air as she gave out a bloodcurdling scream of, _**"NOOOOOOO!"**_ She then slumped her head onto his torso as she cried loudly into his chest.


	11. Episode X

"So," suddenly said a female voice behind Blake and the now-dead Adam. "Is he dead?"

Blake turned around and saw before her a masked black-haired woman wearing a black and red dress. "Who... Who are you?"

The mysterious woman simply took her mask off and said, "I cannot tell you that now. I will be in serious trouble if I do." She then knelt down and inspected Adam's body, the burn marks from Cinder's lightning still present. "So, how did you do it?"

"I didn't," Blake replied, slightly offended. "Cinder did as he killed her."

"Woah, what?" The woman was taken aback by this development. "You mean to tell me this asshole double-crossed Cinder?"

"Don't call him that," Blake told the woman firmly. "He saved my life. I defeated him in battle before, and as Cinder tried to beckon me to kill him, I refused. She tried killing me, so Adam killed her at the cost of his own life." Blake then pointed to Cinder's impaled body nearby. "She was thrown from a walkway above and got impaled on that piece of machinery. She's deader than a doornail, thank God."

"She deserved it," the woman said as she got up to look at Cinder's bloodied body. "But that leaves one question..."

Blake, now confused, asked, "What question?"

"Once again, I can't tell you." In the back of the woman's mind, she thought, _"Who was the last person Cinder thought of before she died? If it was Salem... Oh my God, no. She can't have the Fall Maiden's powers, lest we all get killed."_ "You know what, fuck it. I'm gonna tell you my name for shits and giggles." The woman sighed deeply. "My name is Raven Branwen, Senior Special Agent of the Royal Valeanian Intelligence and Signalling Service, and a former huntress of the Royal Valeanian Hunting Corps. If you've heard the name "Branwen" before, that's because you've met my twin brother, Qrow."

"Say," Blake replied as she took this information in. "Aren't you Yang's-?"

Raven then cut Blake off by saying, "Mother? Yes. And an awful one at that. But that's not the point now." She then yawned and wiped her eyes. "We need to get the hell out of here, now. You need to go back to Yang, and I need to go to my HQ to tell them about this. I wish I could go with you, but..." Raven then sighed as tears began to form in her eyes. "My jobs and investigations forbid me." She then began to quietly sob to herself. "I came too late to stop Adam from hurting Yang..."

* * *

 _Earlier_

Adam noticed that Blake had picked up the arm he had just cut off of Yang. "How pointless." He then looked around and gazed at the destruction his group and Cinder had wrought upon Beacon Academy. The cafeteria so many students had shared memories in was pretty much gone, and several other buildings were on their way.

Then, his gazing was interrupted by a shrill female voice behind him. "What the hell did you do to her?!"

Adam turned around and came face to face with an unmasked and infuriated Raven Branwen. He said, "I see you're back, spy scum." He then drew his sword.

"I am," Raven said as she spit on the ground in Adam's direction. She then charged at him with her own sword drawn.

Adam immediately blocked her with Wilt and Blush, resulting in a fierce battle. As Raven tried slashing at his legs, Adam slashed Raven's left arm, causing her to cry out before she managed to slash Adam's left shoulder open. As their semblances began to try to heal their injuries, Raven yelled out, "Never touch my daughter again, you piece of shit!"

She then charged at Adam full force, only to be met by a sudden blow to the back of her head and to her stomach at the same time. She immediately winced and fell to the cold, hard ground, knocked out by the severe pain.

Adam stood before her alongside a White Fang grunt who had managed to jump into the fray as Raven charged at Adam. He said to him, "Good work. You sure did save my ass jumping in like that."

"Anything for you," the grunt replied. "Your wish is my command. After all, you're probably gonna be our next leader." He then turned to Raven. "Should we off her?"

"Nah," Adam replied. "She's suffered enough. Let's get the hell outta here and let the Grimm take care of her for us."

* * *

"When I woke up," Raven said as she finished her story. "He was gone."

"Oh my," Blake said, in shock. Then, she paused as she formed her thoughts. "So... What's your whole deal with Yang and Ruby and their dad and their stepmom or whatever?" She began to hoist Adam's body up onto her shoulders.

"It's complicated," Raven said. "It actually starts with my grandparents. Many years ago, the Branwens lived a much... Different life than me and Qrow. We were transient and basically bandits. My paternal grandparents, however, left the group and made a living in modern civilization on Patch Island. Things were pretty good, I guess. Then, at the same time me and Taiyang, Yang and Ruby's father, began having a breakdown in our marriage, the more rougher parts of my family began contacting me."

Blake asked, "What do you mean "contacting?""

"They threatened me and Yang. They told me if I didn't rejoin, they'd kill her and force me to watch before killing me too." Raven then sighed. "That's why I basically deserted Yang and Tai after the divorce. I decided that if I was going to rejoin them, I wanted to also bust them. I didn't care they were family, because fuck them. Thus, I resigned from the RVHC and became an operative and later agent of the RVISS. I passed on info about the Branwen Bandits to them, and I still do, though I also infiltrate other groups as well, like the White Fang." She then became even more serious. "Blake Belladonna, I have done shit for this country that will haunt me for the rest of my life, regardless of how much alcohol I drink like my brother Qrow. No psychiatrist can help me."

Blake laughed. "Story of my life, though at least you did it for a good cause, I guess. I did shit for a genocidal terrorist group."

"I know," Raven replied. "Now, let's get out of here."

* * *

 ** _October 28, 2015_**

"So," said the leading doctor in charge of Yang's surgery as he talked to her, Ruby, Qrow, and Taiyang with Blake and Weiss waiting outside the door. "The operation was indeed successful. It's a miracle the arm was even recovered, given the dire circumstances, especially so fast." Her severed arm was still wrapped up. The surgery had lasted for 2 whole days as a team of doctors worked feverishly to reattach it.

Yang, still in her hospital bed, asked, "How long will it take to recover?"

"Approximately 4 months. It seems like a while, but it isn't, especially with a surgery this complicated." The doctor smiled. "As for your Beacon Academy stuff, you will be allowed to do class work, but not missions, until those 4 months are up."

Yang shrugged and said, "I don't mind, to be honest with you, doc. We got the rest of the semester off anyways because they need to repair stuff."

"Oh yeah, I heard about that." The doctor then got up. "Now, Taiyang, you know everything about her prescriptions and stuff for pain, right?"

"Yes," Taiyang replied. "Thank you, so much, for everything you've done for us, Doctor Paladino."

"It's my duty," the doctor said as he bowed and left the room. "Your daughter is a very brave woman. She should be proud."

Ruby told Yang as she smiled, "He's right, you know." She then hugged Yang. "I love you, Yang."

Yang's eyes began to well up with tears as she replied, "I love you too, Ruby."


	12. Episode XI

_**November 9, 2015**_

"Students and faculty," began Ozpin as he spoke in front of the under-rebuilding Beacon Academy to the students and staff of Beacon Academy. "We are gathered here today to honor and remember those who gave their lives to protect our city and our academy not too long ago. Sadly, in the successful efforts to evict the invaders and terrorists who pillaged us and released Grimm into our city, we lost 84 students, 20 staff, 36 regular huntsmen and huntresses, 46 foreign huntsmen and huntresses, and 644 soldiers, including 406 Atlesian soldiers. All were upstanding fighters who came from all backgrounds, races, and colors of life, and all are to be honored here today."

Team RWBY stood among the crowd, dressed in the formal uniforms of Beacon Academy, which consisted of a dark blue suit, dark blue pants, and a service cap. This uniform was only worn for award ceremonies, parades, graduations, and memorial services. All stood silent and stared ahead at Ozpin as he continued.

"To the parents of the deceased, let it be known that your sons and daughters did not fall in vain. The fact that we are still here shows that they did not fall in vain, despite the propaganda of the terrorists that struck us. They tried to shatter us and break us apart, but they have failed. Instead, we stand united against them. In fact, they have even lost their leader in this cowardly attack. Folks, it has been confirmed that the leader of this attack, Cinder Fall, was indeed found dead just a day after the attack ceased." Immediately, cheers erupted amongst the crowd.

Blake smiled as Ruby, Yang, and Weiss joined in the cheering. Ozpin then continued after the cheering ended, saying, "It is believed an associate of her's turned on her and killed her at the cost of his own life. He had reportedly become so disgusted with her that he felt that it was only right if he ended her reign of terror right then and there. Whoever that man is, let it be known that you have indeed atoned for your past actions. Anyways, the intelligence community of the Kingdom of Vale has pointed us in a new direction to a possible person behind Cinder. This leader is known as Salem Harper, or, at least, this is the legal name she has used. It is believed that she is hiding somewhere on the continent of Lindwurm. Already, I have spoken with the King of Vale, Delwyn III, and he has stated that Vale is working closely with the nations of Lindwurm to find Salem and bring her to justice. Now, I know for certain that we at Beacon Academy will do everything in our power to help as well, given that we have a very personal stake in the manhunt for her, to say it rather lightly. I am confident that if we work together worldwide, we can find Salem. We WILL find her, and we WILL make her answer for the destruction and pain she caused us and so many others. Thank you."

* * *

"We've lost too much, Sienna," said a man at a table as he and several others gathered in a dark room, with only a single candle serving as their light. "This has been nothing short of disastrous for us."

"I know," Sienna replied as she puffed smoke from a cigarette. "We lost Adam, we lost Simon, and we lost almost half of our membership to either death or arrest. Damn it... We should have never agreed to work with Cinder Fall or her little friend Salem." She was clearly angry at the White Fang's failure. "This fucking sucks!" She then slammed a fist on the table.

"Sienna," said another man at the table. "We believe that you would be the best choice to succeed Simon and Adam as the leader of the White Fang." He then passed her some files. "We got a few ideas about future attacks. We want you to look at them and see what you think."

"I see," she replied as she looked through the files. "Oh my... This plan is particularly destructive..." She then selected one of the plans. "Who came up with this plan involving plane hijacking?"

"I did," said a younger woman at the table as she spoke up. "I thought we could hack into planes from the ground and fly them into stuff."

"Good plan," Sienna told the woman as she smiled. "It will certainly do lots of damage. Now, I want all of you to do research on the electronics of aircraft. It will take several years, but eventually, we are going to hack some planes, and I know just where to fly them into."

* * *

"I am disappointed," Salem said to her roundtable as she also met with a disturbed Mercury and Emerald. "Cinder is dead, Adam is dead, the White Fang hates us now, and Roman Torchwick is in jail again. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong." She seemed calm, but on the inside, she was furious.

"Salem," Emerald spoke up to her. "We apologize for our failures." She was clearly in fear of what Salem could do to her. "Do what you wish to us."

Tyrian Callows, a scorpion faunus who had a tail as well as several mental issues, said to Salem, "I highly recommend slaughtering both of them."

"While I would not go that far," Arthur Watts, a mustached associate of Salem, replied. "I would recommend either expelling them or using some torture as punishment."

"I agree with Arthur," replied Hazel Rainart, a bearded muscular associate of Salem. "They have clearly failed for the last time, Salem."

"Actually," Salem replied in disagreement. "I'll give you two one more chance."

Mercury, shocked, replied, "No way... Wait, what's the catch?"

"Oh, of course," Salem replied. "I forgot to mention that." She then laughed. "I want you to bring me the bodies of Teams RWBY and JNPR personally. Those 8 pieces of shit have gotten in the way of my plans for the _**last**_ God damn time. No more can we let them run free. To simply put it, I want you to not just kill them, but make sure they suffer greatly in the process. Use any method at your disposal. _**Any**_ method, regardless of how vile or taboo it may be."

Emerald, disturbed by Salem's plans, replied, "Okay then... Uhhh... We'll do that..."

Mercury replied in confusion, "What do you mean vile or taboo?"

"You could force one to kill the other," Salem said as she began to list examples. "You could cannibalize them. You could rape them or force them to have sex with each other for your own viewing pleasure, or both. You could hack them into a million little pieces. You could throw them into the ocean and watch them drown, or if they can swim, you can hold them underwater until they do drown. Do whatever. Just... Just make sure they suffer." She then deviously smiled.

"Wow," Mercury replied in shock. "Uhhh... Okay, was _**not**_ expecting you to go that far, but okay."

"I wish you luck," Salem nonchalantly replied. "Have fun. If you fail, you will both die, and you both will suffer greatly before you do." She then gave them both a thumbs up. "Now, go get 'em."


	13. Episode XII

_**November 12, 2015**_

"Michael," Glynda asked a concerned Ozpin in a serious tone as they met with Pyrrha, Ruby, Jaune, and Qrow. "You almost died when Cinder attacked you. I think it's time you tell Miss Nikos and Mr. Arc the whole truth." She was clearly worried about him, as she had called him by his first name.

"I suppose you're right," Ozpin replied as he took his pipe out of his mouth. He then sighed. "Pyrrha, Jaune, you remember the story of the four maidens, right?"

"You've already told me this," Pyrrha replied, still carrying crutches and wearing a cast. "They're real."

"No way," Jaune replied. "That's... That's what was happening?"

Ruby, equally shocked, replied, "Does that explain Cinder's powers?"

"Indeed," Ozpin replied. He then showed them a diagram on his Scroll-tablet. "Since Cinder, who took all of the Fall Maiden's powers, is now dead, we have no idea who the current Fall Maiden is. She is whoever Cinder thought of last that is a girl. We don't know why, but it can't be a guy for some reason."

"I don't know exactly," Pyrrha replied. "But I unfortunately do have a good idea." She then showed him a picture on her Scroll-phone. "Emerald Sustrai, her right-hand man alongside Mercury Black. Emerald is almost attached to the hip with her. Her semblance has something to do with illusions, and I believe she may have made Yang hallucinate Mercury attacking her and she most likely made me hallucinate during my battle with Penny. There is a good chance she is the girl you're looking for."

"Oh yeah," Qrow replied. "I recognize her from when Amber was attacked the first time. I say go with what the redhead says, Oz." He then took a swig of alcohol from his flask.

"I agree," Glynda replied. "Now, tell them about you."

Jaune, confused, asked, "What about Headmaster Ozpin?"

"You see," Ozpin began. "When I was just beginning to be shipped out to the Vale-Vacuo front in the Faunus War, a voice in my head appeared one day. Now, I might sound crazy, but believe me, this is all true. Apparently, according to the voice, he was the soul of a man who had recently died. He says that the same had happened to him, and that the same soul had been jumping from body to body to body for many, many years. The original person involved was cursed by the two God brothers thousands of years ago for not stopping a woman, or, a beast of a woman, who went by the name of Salem. In their battle, though she was not defeated, she was forced to retreat to a far-off land in Remnant, and only now has she become active again."

Jaune asked, "That is the Salem Harper you described?"

"Indeed," Ozpin replied. "Salem Harper is merely a legal name she uses whenever she has to go out into the open for some reason. She is immortal, but only to natural death. She can be killed at the hands of herself or another." He then showed them a picture of Salem that had been taken by spies decades earlier. "This picture was secretly taken by Atlesian spies in 1952 while they met with her. She most likely looks exactly the same now as she did back then. We believe that her base of operations is located somewhere in Lindwurm."

"Interesting," Pyrrha replied. "So, what do you want us to do about it?"

"First," Ozpin again began. "We need to bring the Spring, Summer, and Winter Maidens to Vale immediately. Summer and Winter are already on their way, and should be here within the next two to three days, but Spring has some issues right now. Once Spring comes, we will begin planning out a mission to either kill or capture Salem."

"My sister has Spring in her tribe," Qrow added, making a rare mention of his twin sister, Raven. "Unbeknownst to the entire tribe of bandits that she currently leads, she's actually an agent we planted several years ago when they captured the Spring Maiden under their old leader."

"Yang's mom," Ruby said to herself. She then turned to her uncle. "How do you want to take her off of Raven's hands?"

"Gather Team RWBY and have them meet with the tribe," Ozpin told her. "You need to bring Yang with you. You will ship out on the 20th."

* * *

"To be honest," Sienna told her right-hand man, a man named Jacob Leverson who bore a tail, as they sat in a meeting room alone. "I'm kinda glad Adam is dead."

"I'm supposed to be shocked," Jacob replied, surprised. "Yet I'm not. Why?"

"The thing is," Sienna began before she scratched behind her right tiger ear a bit. "Adam was too reckless. He favored these expansive and grandiose plans of full-scale military assaults, whereas I know that such endeavors are way too costly for us in terms of both money and manpower. I always preferred using small amounts of manpower to attack targets with devastating results. You know, planting bombs, using anthrax, sending in shooters or suicide bombers, hijacking planes, trains, and ships, you know. It may not cause as much property destruction, but we generally spread the same amount of fear without having to sacrifice so much manpower, if any at all."

"I completely agree," Jacob replied as he then took a quick puff of a cigarette. "I like this plane hacking plan you got. I think we'll achieve the same death toll, if not worse, when it goes into action, and we won't have to even make martyrs of anybody. We can do it all from the safety of a computer lab."

"We'll need to give it a few years while we work out the bugs and kinks," Sienna told him. "But, once we do, we will unleash destruction never before seen in Remnant in decades."

* * *

As Mercury and Emerald met outside of their rooms in Salem's compound, Mercury asked her, "Say, Salem's been telling me to ask you if you've had anything weird involving fire or heart recently happen to you."

"Well," Emerald began. "I did have a frying pan almost explode yesterday, and when I got pissed off at a TV remote that sucked, it started smoking in my hands."

"Well, that answers my questions alright," Mercury replied. "Emerald, do you think you were the last person Cinder thought of before she died?"

Emerald blushed. "Well... Uhh... I hope so?" It then hit her. "Oh... Oh my God... You don't mean...?"

"Salem tells me you may be the new Fall Maiden," Mercury replied to her. "I can't believe it myself."

Emerald, shocked, looked at her hands. "That explains all of those things... Wow..." Tears then began to fall from her eyes as she thought of Cinder. "I will find Ruby, Cinder. I will find her, and when I do, she will suffer." As she wiped the tears away, she hugged a startled Mercury. "Sorry..."

"It... It's fine," Mercury replied as he returned the hug. Normally, he hated being touched, but this time, he felt fine. "It's fine..."


	14. Episode XIII

**_November 23, 2015_**

"This sucks," Raven said to herself as she wrote down in her journal about the day's activities with the tribe in her tent at the camp. Unbeknownst to anyone else, she had snuck in codes in her journals that would detail classified information about the tribe so that when a journal book was full, she could pass it off to another RVISS field agent, who would bring it to Vale. The black-haired woman sighed as she continued to write. Then, just as she finished her entry, she heard a commotion outside. As she stood up, she heard shouting.

"What the fuck are they doing here?!" This sentence was soon followed by several gunshots, catching Raven's attention as she sped up her pace and ran out of the tent.

Raven ran out with Vernal, the Spring Maiden, and shouted at the top of her lungs, "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON OUT HERE?!" She then looked around and noticed a gang of 4 huntresses and 1 huntsman standing in the middle of the camp as several of Raven's men lay injured on the ground.

Another guard said to her, "These 5 idiots just walked into here, and we recognized Qrow from the bunch, so we attacked him, but then those 4 girls he brought with him kicked our asses!"

Raven then noticed that among the 5 was Yang and Ruby. She immediately said to the guards, "It was foolish to attack them, especially when unprovoked. Even if Qrow is from the traitorous branch of the Branwen tribe, he is still my brother. You are to harm none of them any further, or else!" She then glared at the guard.

"Yes, ma'am," the guard replied as he brushed himself off and walked away. "I'll tend to the injured."

Raven then called over to Team RWBY, "Come. Meet me in my tent." She then turned to Yang. "Yang, we have a lot to talk about."

* * *

In the tent, as RWBY and Qrow walked in, Qrow said to her, "It's been a while." The tent was dark, but spacious, and was lit up with a flameless electric lantern powered by a battery.

Yang, whom had a full cast on her right arm and was deeply confused as to how to feel, said to her, "What do we need to-?"

Immediately, Raven walked up to her and cut her off with a hug. Yang was startled, but did not push her off. Raven told her, "Yang... It's been so long... Ah, my daughter, my flesh and blood..." Vernal just looked on, confused.

Yang told her, "Uhhh... Yeah..."

Raven then split and turned to Ruby. She smiled and told her, "I'm glad I can finally meet you in person, Ruby." She then extended her hand for a handshake, which Ruby returned. "I've seen you before in pictures, but never in person." She then turned to Weiss. "Woah, no way. No fucking way. You got Weiss Schnee on your team?" She then laughed.

Weiss replied, surprised, "Is that funny to you?"

"No," Raven replied. "It's just that I knew your dad when I was a volunteer over at Signal Fire and Patch First Aid. He's a damn good fireman and a damn good medic. Are you and Winter in the fire service, too?"

"Yep," Weiss replied confidently. "We joined when we turned 12."

"Nice," Raven replied before she turned to Blake. "We've met before."

Qrow turned to Blake and asked her, "Where did you two meet?"

"When Cinder and Adam killed each other," Blake replied. She then sighed. "She apparently fought Adam after me and Yang left and before he left Beacon."

"That reminds me," Raven replied as she turned to Yang. "Yang, I was horrified when I heard about your arm. How is it since the doctors put it back on?"

"It's getting better," Yang replied. "Still got work to do, though." She then sighed as she changed subject matters. "Mom, we're here to take the Spring Maiden or whatever to Beacon to see Ozpin. The Winter and Summer ones are already there." Vernal's eyes widened with shock.

Raven then paused. "I was afraid of that. You see, there... There was a reason I left Vale shortly after me and your dad divorced, and..." She then turned to Qrow. "Please, brother, promise me you will not get mad."

"You'll need to explain your reasoning sooner or later," Qrow told her. "Tell them. I won't get angry."

"I see," the black-haired woman replied. "Alright. Yang, Ruby, you guys should know by now that Qrow can transform into, well, a crow, right?"

"Wait, what?" Ruby was shocked.

Yang, equally shocked, replied, "Uhhh..."

Raven gave a dirty look towards her twin brother as she asked him, "You didn't tell them about that?!"

"I didn't tell them for their own good," Qrow replied.

"Fine," Raven replied back. "Ugh... Yes, your uncle can turn into a bird. Try and guess what I can turn into?"

Ruby thought to herself. "Uhhh... A pigeon?"

Yang laughed and said, "No, silly, I think she means a raven! It's in her name!"

Raven said to herself, "Oh my God..." She then continued. "Yes, I can turn into a raven. Thing is, neither of those things are our semblances. In fact, we didn't even have that ability until we came to Beacon and met with good old Mike..."

Blake said to Raven, "Ozpin helped you discover it?"

"No," Raven sternly replied. "Ozpin gave us that ability, and he created it himself as an experiment. He used us as guinea pigs." She then sighed and took a deep breath. "It... It was traumatic. To this day, I have nightmares about the "surgery," he called it, that he did to us to give us that ability. He..." She began to break down. "He tore us up and broke us physically and mentally, damn it!" She then smashed a glass cup on a table with her fist by slamming it, drawing blood from her right hand. "His fucking little surgery was botched from the start! We had to tell everyone else we got into a bad fight with a grimm to cover it up! I was in a motherfucking wheelchair for half of a God damn year because of his malpractice! Yang, if you don't believe me, your **own mother** , just ask your uncle Qrow!" She then began to sob as Vernal patted her on the shoulder.

Vernal spoke to the gang for the first time, saying, "She doesn't like to talk about this. Until now, I was the only she ever told."

Yang turned to Qrow and asked him, "Is... Is it true?"

"Yes," Qrow simply replied. "I still have nightmares about that experience myself, though not as bad as Raven. You see, though I was injured, too, your mother took the worst of it. Her PTSD and her sworn secrecy is what led to the breakdown of her marriage with your dad, in fact. She didn't even know if she was able to become pregnant, since he did a lot of work in the lower area of her body. Her pregnancy with you only aggravated her PTSD, in fact, especially when you kicked." He then took a swig of whiskey from his flask.

Yang, in pure disbelief, stared at her mother for several seconds in silence. Then, she said, "Raven... I mean... Mom..."

Raven then turned around, tears still falling from her eyes, as she said, "Yang?"

"I... I had no idea," Yang replied as she hugged her. "I'm so sorry for what I did to you."

"No," Raven replied. "It's not your fault, Yang. I wanted to have you, even if I did aggravate my problems." She then looked Yang straight in the eyes. "I'd still have you if I could do it all over again, my problems be damned. I wanted to be a mother, yet that opportunity was taken from me with the whole divorce thing and then all of this. To be honest, Summer did a better job than I ever could have."

Qrow then told the rest of the gang, "I still remember when Raven called me the day she decided to divorce Tai. It was... It was a difficult call for her to make. She asked that I watch a then-infant Yang for the night while she and Tai talked and argued. She didn't want her to see and hear what was being said. I ended up watching her for a while. Meanwhile, a few days after Raven began that process, Tai began staying at Summer's apartment, and, well, let's just say that Ruby wouldn't exist if it weren't for that."

Raven then split from Yang and continued her story. "So, yeah," she told. "We gained the ability to turn into birds. Seems fitting, given our names. We were to work clandestinely under RVHC cover to gather intelligence on Salem and the other maidens. I assume Glynda finally forced Mike to spill the secret about the Maidens and reincarnation to you guys?"

"Yes," Ruby replied. "Ozpin told us about that."

"Hah," Raven replied. "So, he's finally telling the truth. He was the one who created the Maidens. Well, he himself didn't, but a past life did. You know, by coincidence, Ozpin himself is a direct descendant of the wizard that gave the Maidens their powers. They both shared the last name Ozpin, though the wizard's full name was Alexander William Ozpin, whereas the Ozpin you all known and love is Michael James Ozpin. Also, Salem is not just some powerful woman-beast who can control Grimm. No, she creates Grimm."

Immediately, all of Team RWBY gasped. Blake said to Raven, "She's the one who creates Grimm?!"

"Yes," Raven simply replied. "Her safehouse is located in the one place where new Grimm are born. It is impassable both due to geography and due to Salem having followers who guard the place. While Grimm can spawn elsewhere in limited numbers, it is at Salem's safehouse where brand new species of Grimm are created, and where mass amounts can be produced."

Weiss then asked her, "Wait, so what happens if Salem is taken out and her safehouse is destroyed?"

"We do not know for sure," Raven replied. "Me, the rest of Team STRQ, and Ozpin all theorize that existing Grimm will still be around, and the smaller spawns and nests outside will still exist until they're destroyed by huntsmen and huntresses, but no longer will we see massive hordes of Grimm suddenly appear all at once. In short, it will become a hell of a lot easier to hunt Grimm, and they will pose a much smaller threat."

Suddenly, Qrow felt his Scroll vibrate. "Huh?" When he saw who it was, he said to himself, "Oz?"

Raven sneered, "What does he want?"

Qrow answered the call. "Oz, what's wrong?"

"Slight change of plans," Ozpin told him. "You need to go to Haven Academy. I just got some intelligence concerning a possible plot against that school. If you can, take the Spring Maiden with you. I've told the Summer and Winter Maidens to reroute to Haven Academy when they get the chance."

Horrified, Qrow paused. "What? They want to do what?" He then put his Scroll on speaker mode so the entire tent could hear it.

"The White Fang is plotting an attack on Haven Academy just like how they attacked Beacon," Ozpin said to Qrow on the Scroll. "I need you, Team RWBY, and the Spring Maiden to go to Haven. I have Team JNPR going there now along with the Summer and Winter Maidens. Also, I have a feeling the uncivilized half of your family might be on Salem's watch because of your sister." The last sentence shocked Raven and Vernal. "If anything happens, just know that Raven is authorized to blow her cover, since she will be served a burn notice soon for blowing her cover during the Battle of Beacon."

Raven then suddenly grabbed the phone and screamed at Ozpin, "They're going to do WHAT to me?!"

Ozpin, surprised by Raven jumping into the conversation out of nowhere, replied to her, "Miss Branwen, I'm surprised you heard that."

"I heard all of it, asshole," Raven yelled at Ozpin. "I blew my cover to protect my daughter, twice! All this time, I have done nothing but serve my Kingdom gracefully! I've saved it from the mob, from terrorists, and from my very own family, and for RVISS to disregard EVERYTHING I've ever done is bullshit!" She then took several deep breaths and calmed herself down. "Mike, I'll give you what you want this one time only. I still won't forgive you for traumatizing me, ever, but even a broken clock is right twice a day I suppose."

Ozpin then said to her, "I'm glad we can agree on this issue, Miss Branwen." He then hung up.

Raven then turned to Vernal. "I have a final assignment for you, Vernal."

The shocked Spring Maiden simply said, "What... What is it?"

"I order you to go to Haven Academy with my brother," Raven replied. "After that, I'm gonna need to hang up my leadership position."


	15. Episode XIV

"Okay, so let's go over the plan one last time." Raven then laid out a blueprint of Haven Academy she had gained through some connections several years prior as she explained her plan to Qrow and Team RWBY. "Intelligence points to Salem sending four of her surviving associates to Haven during the chaos to try to snatch the relic. Headmaster Lionheart may or may not be compromised in some form. It also points to another two associates of her's coming here. I'm going to kill two birds, no pun intended, with one stone when they do."

Qrow, concerned, asked her, "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Yes," Raven replied. "Now, Vernal will go with you guys to stop the White Fang and get your hands on the relic. I will stay here and pretend to side with Salem. This will involve me backstabbing the tribe and finally taking care of this nonsense once and for all. We will then most likely head to Haven to join in on the fight. When we get there, I'll backstab Salem's associates, literally. Now, as to how we will deal with the new Fall Maiden, we're gonna need to drill into her head who we want to be the next Fall Maiden and then kill her. Now, Qrow, who has Ozpin chosen to be the next Fall Maiden?"

"It was Pyrrha Nikos," Qrow told her before taking a drink. "But due to the Battle of Beacon, we won't know if that will remain his choice." Then, his phone rang. "Hello?"

"It's Ozpin," the headmaster himself replied over the phone. "Pyrrha has told me that she is willing to become the next Fall Maiden again. She will be joining you all in Haven Academy soon with the rest of Team JNPR, albeit she will be on crutches, so she won't be able to fight, at least until the Fall Maiden's powers transfer to her and heal her wounds. Have you worked out a plan with your sister yet?"

"I have, Oz," Qrow replied as she handed the phone to a sneering Raven. "Talk to him, Raven. Tell him of the plan. By the way, Pyrrha said yes to being the Fall Maiden again."

As Raven began reluctantly talking to Ozpin, Ruby said to Qrow, "How will we get Pyrrha to us? She hurt her leg bad in the fight. I saw it. Cinder put an arrow through her Achilles' tendon." She was clearly afraid for Pyrrha, as was the rest of Team RWBY.

"She's on crutches," Qrow explained to them. "We'll keep her in the guest house at Haven, and when the time comes, we'll need to maim but not kill whoever the Fall Maiden is now. Once she's within an inch from her life, we'll need to bring her to Pyrrha so she is the last thing she sees. Then, we need to kill her right then and there." He then sighed. "It's not the most morally right plan or the cleanest, but it's all we can do."

Blake asked him, "Will the rest of Team JNPR be coming, too?"

"Yes," Qrow replied. "They will be."

* * *

 _ **November 26, 2015**_

At the Branwen camp, Raven prepared herself for the impending arrival of Salem's associates. She had contacted Salem 3 days before soon after Qrow and Team RWBY left to Haven Academy by catching a train in a nearby town to the City of Mistral, telling her that she was going to side with her, eliminate her tribe, and then bring Salem's associates to Haven.

Late at night, around 11 PM local time, Raven waited outside the camp gates. She stared into the dark forest ahead of her, thinking to herself, _"Raven, this is for the good of Vale and all of mankind, even if this tribe is family. You should have done this long ago."_ She then sighed and said to herself, "I hope this works."

Then, she spotted several flashlights in the distance. Then, a voice called out, saying, "Raven?!"

Raven then shouted back, "Over here!" She was the only one on guard that night at her camp, a move that would guarantee her success.

Then, Emerald, Mercury, Watts, and Hazel all came into view as Raven turned on her own flashlight. Emerald waved at her and told her, "So, you must be the legendary Raven Branwen."

"I am," Raven replied as she looked over the 4. "You must be the new Fall Maiden, Emerald Sustrai, loyal servant of the late Cinder Fall." She then turned to the others. "Mercury Black, Hazel Rainart, and Doctor Arthur Watts. What an interesting inner circle Salem has."

Mercury then addressed her, saying, "Interesting in terms of what?"

"Your feats and powers," Raven replied as she smiled innocently. "That's all." She then sighed. "Now, before we begin, I want to ask you something. Is Headmaster Leo Lionheart of Haven Academy compromised in any form?" She then pulled out a cigarette.

"He's with us," Arthur replied immediately. "I made sure of that. Isn't your brother and that Team RWBY that's been causing us so much trouble heading to Haven?"

"Indeed," Raven replied as she then lit up a cigarette with a lighter before puffing on it. "Once we take care of this tribe, I'll open a portal to Qrow, and we'll take care of them with ease. The Spring Maiden is already with them, and is pretending to be on their side. When we arrive, she'll backstab them, and boom, we have our relic, we burn Haven Academy to the ground, and we go back to Beacon to finish the job."

"Sounds like a plan," Emerald replied. She then began to feel anger. "Though, all I care about is seeing Ruby and Blake get eviscerated for what they did to Cinder. I'll make them pay taking her away from me with their lives." Her eyes then lit up with flames as she showed Raven a flame that spouted from her right hand. "Raven, Cinder was a mother to me. I never had parents that actually gave a fuck about me until I met Cinder. My mother was a prostitute, my father was a customer of her's, and I was a little mixed-race kid that had nowhere to go and no way to advance except by stealing shit from other people and by doing the very thing that created me until I met Cinder Fall." She then laughed. "Let me tell you, Raven. Do you know what it feels like to sell yourself on the street at the age of 11 to dirty old men, and even to dirty old women, who have no shame about stealing the innocence of a child of that age? How about the multiple visits to a backstreet doctor to take care of the inevitable pregnancies? How about stealing scraps of food at 4 in the morning before you're scheduled to meet a client in 30 minutes?"

Raven was horrified by Emerald's story, but had to remain focused. "That's... Awful..."

"It is," Emerald replied as she put the flames out. "Cinder helped me escape all of it. Without her, I'd be dead right now. Do you see why Ruby and Blake need to be taken care of by me?"

"I do," Raven replied as she crushed her cigarette with her feet. "Now, let's take care of the Branwen Tribe for once and for all."

Hazel then said to all of them, "Don't kill any of the children. Salem will not take kindly to that. Let them run off."

Arthur said to him, "What if they attack us? They could be brainwashed, Hazel."

"That's different," Hazel replied as he stepped forward and walked to the gate. "Except for that, don't kill any of the children. None of them need to die tonight." He then turned to Raven. "I got the gate." He then took off a backpack and took out an explosive charge before placing it on the gate door. He then began backing away with the backpack in his hands as he said, "Everyone, back up by a lot."

After the gang had backed up a good 150 feet from the gate, Hazel handed Raven a detonator. "Blow it up."

Raven then took the detonator and gulped. "Well... Here we go." She then pressed down on it.

What followed was a short but powerful explosion that ripped the gate apart and alerted the rest of the sound asleep camp. Emerald then summoned flames from her hands as she said, "Let's go take care of this camp." They all then charged at the camp as several people inside grabbed weapons and readied themselves.

A man carrying an assault rifle fired several rounds at Emerald before she used her flames to toss the man backwards. Mercury them jumped up and landed a roundhouse kick on a man armed with a sword, snapping his neck and killing him. "Too easy!"

Emerald then shouted, "Burn it!" She then rose into the air as she summoned a giant sheet of flame to engulf several tents that carried weapons before throwing fireballs at several people who tried to shoot at her. She then bellowed, "You think your guns can stop the Fall Maiden?!" All of the 6 who tried firing at her tried to flee, but they were quickly attacked by Mercury.

Raven then took her sword out and charged through several men armed with guns and clubs. After she stopped, all 4 fell to the ground, and one lost his head. As she caught her breath, she was suddenly hit from the rear with a club, knocking the wind out of her. She screamed and then slashed the man who hit her across the chest, killing him and coating her in his blood. "Just focus on the mission, Raven..."

Arthur drew a pistol and began indiscriminately firing at several fleeing guards, hitting several of them as they tried to run for their lives from the onslaught. As the other 3 battled their way through the camp, he and Hazel calmly looked on at the ensuing destruction. "Say," he asked Hazel. "I think it's time to set the device up in the middle of camp."

"Indeed," Hazel replied as he took another device out of his backpack. This device was much different from the explosive demolition charge used to destroy the gate. "I hope this thing you made works." He then quickly ran to the center of the camp, which was Raven's tent, with the device in his hands. As several men and women tried to charge at him, he simply brushed them away with his brute strength as he managed to reach the inside of the tent. "Alright, I just gotta place this device, and this whole camp will be gone."

Raven, meanwhile, put her sword away and drew a pistol and a knife as she took on over 40 people by herself as the camp burned around her. As she charged at them, they all tried to attack her, but she dodged them. One man tried stabbing her, but he missed, and Raven shot him point-blank in the chest as she then sliced open a woman's neck. When another man tried to grab her sword, she stabbed him twice in the back before shooting another with a metal pipe in the face, blowing off half of his head. The bullet then hit a man in the eye and stopped in his brain behind him. Raven then jumped over a woman who tried to kick her lower legs, turned her around, punched her in the face, kneed her in the stomach, and then sliced her neck open before shooting a man behind her. As she and the crowd continued to brawl, she whittled them down until finally, after 4 minutes, they were all dead or dying. She then looked at the pile of bodies she left behind, wiped her mouth off, and spit on the ground.

Hazel then shouted to all of them as he ran out of Raven's tent, "Let's get out now and set off the device!" Emerald, Mercury, Raven, and Arthur all booked it to the destroyed gate as Hazel joined them. Several survivors tried to attack them, but they were quickly repulsed.

After several minutes of running away, they made it to a waiting helicopter outside of the camp. Once they boarded, Arthur told Hazel, "Now!"

Then, as the helicopter became airborne, Hazel pressed down on another detonator. What followed was a giant flash of light as the Branwen Camp was completely engulfed by an explosion that rocked the helicopter. "There we go..."

"All thanks to technology I developed," Arthur followed. "I told you that dust device would work."

Emerald patted a downtrodden Raven on the back, telling her, "You did good out there, Raven. Thanks."

"Yeah," she replied. "I guess I did. Now, off to Haven Academy." She then thought to herself, _"...where you all will perish!"_


	16. Episode XV

_**November 28, 2015**_

"Look," said Headmaster Leo Lionheart as he talked to Salem over the phone. "I only agreed to this because I want to keep my academy safe. Team RWBY and Qrow should be here soon. When they get here, I will inform you. There is no need for you to send your people here just yet, and there is no need to threaten me." He was deeply concerned for his own well-being and safety.

"Fine, fine," Salem replied. "My associates will arrive two days after Team RWBY and Qrow do. Also, just to let you know, Qrow's sister Raven will be among my associates. Her little tribe won't be an issue anymore, since she betrayed them."

"I see," Leo replied, concerned about this development. "Well, I'll be sure to let you know when they come, which shouldn't take too long." He then hung up the phone. "Damn it... This deal was a bad idea from the start..."

* * *

"Well," Leo said as he showed Team RWBY, Vernal, and Qrow their quarters. "I hope you enjoy this little abode of mine." He obviously was understating the size of the quarters, considering it consisted of 8 rooms and plenty of space. "This place normally is packed, but due to the attacks at Beacon, the government sent all of the students and most of the staff to Sanctum since they saw a recent uptick in Grimm activity there."

"Thank you, again," Qrow replied as he shook Leo's hand. "Trust me, when the White Fang do come, we will be ready."

"Excellent," he replied as he thought to himself, _"God, forgive me for what I am doing to these people."_ "I need to attend to some business back at my office. Make yourselves at home. If you need anything, just give me a call." He then left before shutting and locking the door behind him as he sighed and said to himself outside, "This will be tougher than I thought."

Vernal said to Qrow, "Should we call Ozpin now or wait?"

"We can wait until we're settled in," Qrow replied. "We have a few days before they come, after all."

Ruby then interrupted both of them with a question that shocked Qrow. "Um, Uncle Qrow, what exactly are the Silver Eyes?" Vernal also looked on in surprise, wondering how a young girl like Ruby knew of such power.

Qrow answered her with, "Well, Ruby, we probably should talk about that before anything else."

Yang asked him, "Yeah, I've been wondering that myself. Ruby told me about that."

Weiss and Blake both said at the same time, "Same here." The rest of Team RWBY all looked concerned for their young leader, who herself was scared by her powers.

"You see," Qrow began as Vernal also took a seat on a couch. "Silver-Eyed Warriors are a lineage group whose origins go way back, even before the formation of the modern Kingdoms and Lesser Nations. According to legend, those born with silver eyes are said to be destined to lead the life of a warrior. It is believed that those who possess the power, if angered or frightened, can strike down powerful Grimm with a single look at them. They also can inflict injuries on people, too, if the event that triggers them is strong enough, as evidence when Ruby blew Cinder off the edge of Beacon Tower and killed the Grimm Dragon. It usually manifests as giant blinding streams of white light that emanate from the eyes."

"So," Ruby replied to him. "I have that? Will it hurt me?"

"No," Qrow replied as he shook his head. "It shouldn't negatively affect you. Your mom had it, too, but it very rarely came out."

"She did?" Both Ruby and Yang looked on in surprise. "No way!"

Weiss told Qrow, "I've heard of this before. So, is this yet another so-called "myth" that actually has some truth to it, like the Maidens?"

"Indeed," Qrow replied as he took a sip of alcohol. "It is." He then turned to Vernal. "I see you have heard of this myth, too."

"Your sister told me," she replied. "She told me about Summer Rose and her eyes. I never knew that it could be passed down seemingly genetically, like with Ruby."

Blake then asked Vernal a seemingly simple question. "Say, how did you get to know Raven and the Tribe?"

"About time someone asked me that here," Vernal replied. "You see, I had a twin sister. Her name was Maria. Vernal actually isn't my name. My name is actually Andrea. I was given Vernal after a few years in the Tribe as a code name, and over time, I just adopted it as my own. Maria was in fact the Spring Maiden before me. She got the powers really young... Too young, in fact. We were only 10 when one day she woke up with them for some reason. She was unstable throughout, and then, at the age of 15, she just couldn't take it anymore." She then paused to collect her thoughts. "So, we both ran away from home, and we ran into Raven and her tribe. We were taken in, and we soon proved ourselves. This was about 2004, about a year after Raven came back as leader. However, around 2006, there was an incident, and Maria died." She then sighed as she wiped away tears. "I'm sorry. It was hard on all of us. She died saving me and Raven from a collapsing cave. After that, I got the powers of the Spring Maiden, and I've held them since."

Blake, saddened by the story, replied to her, "I know what it's like to lose all of your family. It's hard. It's so hard." She then patted her on the shoulder. "It's alright, Vernal."

The brunette smiled and replied, "Thanks. That means a lot."

Weiss then asked Qrow, "So, what exactly is "in a few days" for the White Fang's arrival?"

"December 2 is Ozpin's earliest estimate," Qrow replied as he showed the gang a piece of paper that contained what Ozpin knew so far about the plans the White Fang had for Haven Academy. "December 5 is the latest estimate."

* * *

"Mom," Yang asked Raven as she helped her daughter unpack a bag in what was to be her room. "What exactly happened that led to you abandoning me?"

Raven paused in her unpacking. "I... I do owe you the full story, most of all." She then sat down on the bed. "After me and your father divorced, I did not go right to the tribe. In fact, there's another reason I divorced Taiyang." She then looked down at herself. "The tribal side of the Branwens... They threatened me and Qrow while I was pregnant with you. They gave me an ultimatum: Renounce the civilized ways of your treasonous grandparents, or we will kill everyone you love, and they meant EVERYONE!" She emphasized the last word with emotion as she wiped her eyes. "So, I had to divorce your father to protect you and him."

Yang sighed. "I... How could they..."

"Yang," she told her daughter. "Your cousins in the tribe will not hesitate to harm any living thing if they think it will benefit them. This would not have been the first time they killed children." She then pulled out her wallet and showed Yang a badge. "After the divorce, I left the Hunting Corps and took up intelligence work. The Intelligence and Signalling Service took me around Remnant for 5 years. I hunted down the worst of the worst in terms of gangsters, terrorists, spies, and warmongers, all in the name of Vale. We used methods that can best be described as blackmail, extortion, and murder, and truthfully, I won't make any excuses." She then put the badge away. "In 2002, I was told to go to the Branwen Tribe and supply intelligence for an indefinite period of time. I managed to build trust, and by 2005, I was the de facto leader of the tribe."

"I assume you met Vernal and her sister then," Yang asked.

"Yes," Raven nodded. "I took them in." She then placed a hand on Yang's shoulder. "Now, Yang, I need you to promise me you will never tell a soul about what I am about to tell you."

Yang was confused. All of a sudden, despite almost never being in her life, her mother was confiding in her what seemed to be very personal information. "I mean... Why not? It's not like I haven't heard anything too crazy yet."

"Yang," Raven replied as she held out her left hand. "Vernal is not the Spring Maiden. Her sister Andrea did not pass the powers to her." She then displayed a small, bright red flame from her hand as her eyes also lit up. "She passed them to me. I am the Spring Maiden."

Yang, shocked, widened her eyes. "What?!"

"Vernal told most of the truth about how her sister died," Raven continued. "But she left out one last thing."

* * *

"She's not doing too well," Raven said to Vernal as they both looked over a badly injured Andrea, who had the code name of Primavera. She had been buried under rocks from a collapsing cave, and they had just pulled her out. "Vernal, I don't think she'll make it."

"She has to," her apprentice plead with Raven. "She's my twin sister... Please... Don't let the only blood family I have left die..." Tears then fell from her eyes onto Primavera's blood-stained face. "Andrea, per favore, rimani con noi."

"Maria," Primavera said weakly. "Maria, non ce la farò. Ho bisogno che tu sia forte senza di me." She then turned to Raven. "Raven... You've given everything you possibly could to me... I have one last request."

"Anything," Raven told her. "You can say anything."

"Kill me," she weakly said to her. "Relieve me of this pain." Vernal was horrified by her sister's proposition, and tried shaking her head no. "Maria... I won't make it. I need someone to relieve me of this pain. I'm sorry."

Raven, herself beginning to cry, pulled a pistol from her waist. "As you wish."

"Before I go," Primavera said. "I want the last thing I think about to be you, Raven. You've given me and my sister a new lease on life, and these past two years have been the happiest I could ever ask for. It's only fair that you get the powers."

"But I'm 35 years old," Raven added, concerned she was too old to be the Spring Maiden. "I'm older, much older, than you."

"It will be fine," she replied before she turned to her sister one last time. "I don't want you to be cursed with these powers. They should not be wielded by anyone, let alone a young girl. It's best if someone who is older has them."

Vernal nodded as she cried. "Yes..."

Primavera then turned to Raven for the last time. "You know what to do."

"I do," Raven replied as she cocked the gun. "Goodbye, Primavera." She then aimed the fun at her head, trembling and hesitant to pull the trigger for one of the first times in her life. She then closed her eyes and pulled.

Immediately, a bullet entered her head and ended her life far too soon. Vernal cried out loudly and wept as her sister's life was taken in front of her very eyes. "NO! MIA SORELLINA! VITA MIA!"

Raven buried her eyes in her hands as she began to cry as well. She thought to herself, _"What has my life become?! What?!"_ Then, suddenly, she felt a rising pressure inside her as she was compelled by some unseen force to stand, tears still falling from her eyes. She then felt her eyes burn up with heat as the powers of the Spring Maiden flew from Primavera to her body. "What's happening?!"

Vernal could only look on in horror as Raven then stormed into the forest nearby and yelled out into the sky in pure rage. "What happened to her?!"

"THIS IS WHAT I AM," Raven cried out as she threw a ball of fire at some trees, saying them on fire. "I AM THE SPRING MAIDEN!" She then let out a roaring yell that forced even Vernal to cover her ears in intense pain. As she did, she suddenly felt blood trickle out of her ear, the inhuman sound of Raven's hell being so loud it was damaging her ears. "HEAR ME ROAR!"

* * *

"We agreed after that to keep the fact that I had the powers hidden," Raven concluded. "Vernal would assume the role, and whenever she needed to use "her" powers, I would secretly use them in a way to make people think she was using them."

"I had no idea," the blonde could say, dumbfounded by the story. "It's... It's awful... I can't imagine having to mercy kill my own sister..."

"It's hard," Raven told her. "That was legitimately the first time I ever felt truly reluctant to pull the trigger on somebody." She then yawned. "Well, I'm tired. You should probably go to bed, too."

As she got up and walked out of the room, Yang said to her, "Good night, Mom."

Raven paused in her place in the doorway. "I love you, fy anwylyd." She then walked to her room, a single tear falling from her eyes. She had called Yang by a Cymrunian term of endearment her own mother had used for her.


End file.
